Dark Avenger
by Ashe1
Summary: The Gundam pilots are dead. Injustices have been comitted and one returns to extract revenge....
1. Prologue

Mobile Suit _Gundam Wing  
_The Crow: Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Disclaimer:   
Gundam Wing and its characters are trademarked and copyright by Ban Dai. The Crow was created by J.O. Barr. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to make money so do not distribute it with that purpose in mind!

Warning:   
This story contains violence, bad language, shonen ai, and references to the supernatural. Do not read if your parents won't let you go to a PG-13 movie!

Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Prologue "The Black Bird She Saw"  
After Colony 210, April 

Soft footfalls echoed throughout the fifteen-year-old hangar, resounding across the immense underground structure. Poor lighting obscured the female figure as she walked past the metallic remains lying along the walls. She carried a single red rose with her. Relena paused in her procession through the hanger to reflect in front of a particular pile of twisted, scorched metal. The few rays of light illuminating the area managed to draw her attention to the mangled remains of Wing Zero's Twin Beam Cannon. 

"Oh Heero, how I miss you," said Relena quietly, bowing her head in respect of the fallen Gundam. She could still hear Duo's screams as he had watched Wing Zero explode during the battle with the new military power, the Emerald Green. Damn Dorothy and her betrayal. At least she had had fourteen good years with the Gundam boys before the war.

A tear formed in Relena's eye. She wiped it away quickly and continued on through the bay. Her thoughts turned to poor Quatre. He had fought so valiantly against Emerald Green's assault. He and Duo had been the last two Gundam pilots defending the Sanc Kingdom. Quatre had been recovered alive, but unconscious. It had been one year, and Quatre still did not wake. Noin and Sally Poe continued to rotate shifts watching poor Quatre when they were not on a mission. It seemed they had to spend more and more time defending the Sanc Kingdom from E.G.'s continuing assault. Duo had not faired as well and had been given a proper burial. 

Relena walked past Wufei and Trowa's Gundams. They had fallen right after Heero. Dorothy's handiwork yet again. Dorothy had become an excellent Mobile Suit pilot within the last few years. Her skill combined with the firepower of her new weapon made the Gundams stand against E.G. a futile effort. Lady Une had tried to get to Dorothy and help Trowa and Wufei, but when her suit had been crippled she could not intervene. It had been a horrible time and showed no signs of getting any better anytime soon.

Finally, Lady Peacecraft came to rest before the only complete and restored Gundam in the bay. Parts from the other Gundams had been salvaged to repair the one before her. At first her reasoning was that this one had received the least amount of damage, but later it seemed fitting that Deathscythe Hell would be watching over the remains of these once proud machines. Only Relena and the technicians who had repaired it knew what stood down here. 

She would come to the hangar to get away from it all. It was her little monument to the five boys who tried to change their universe for the better. This whole area made the fight against Emerald Green seem that much more real and urgent to her.

"Guard them well, Deathscythe. I must visit your pilot to pay my respects. It just seems right to visit the boys on the anniversary of…" Relena's voice trailed off. She didn't want to emphasize the truth, not here in front of poor Deathscythe. 

Relena began walking quickly past the standing Gundam towards a door that led outside. Outside of the Gundam Bay was a misty hillside overlooking a large wooded waterfall and river. Despite the roar of the falls, the scene was quiet. A grave marker broke the stillness on the hill. Duo and Heero used to spend a lot of time here together. Relena had insisted that Duo be buried here and not in some square to show respect to the pilots. Respect was one thing, honoring the dead's wishes another, and she knew that Duo would want to be here. 

The grave marker was a memorial all its own. Besides Duo, Heero, Trowa and Wufei's names all appeared here. "Fighting for the Future" was etched in the stone with all of their birth dates listed. A spot had been left for Quatre. Relena feared that if he did not wake up soon he would be joining Duo. 

"Duo, I miss your laugh and practical jokes. Even if you did steal Heero's heart from me, you did not deserve the hand Fate dealt you. Please watch over the others wherever you are Duo. I love you all."

Tears began to stream down Relena's flushed cheeks. She knelt at the grave sobbing, her tears striking the damp soil.

"I'm trying to be strong, but we've lost so much. I just wish…I wish you, any of you, could come back to us and help us."

Lady Peacecraft gingerly placed the rose on the grave, her tears giving the rose a slight sparkle as it picked up the dim sunlight from above. As she rose, a dark shape landed on the grave marker. Startled, she jumped back slightly before she realized it was just a bird. 

A black bird. 

A crow.

She smiled as the bird eyed her. Relena sniffled back a tear or two. "Watch over my boys, little bird. They deserve better than anyone can give, including myself."

She bowed to the crow out of respect for the dead and retreated from it just as quietly as she had come. Relena vaguely remembered a legend revolving around a crow bringing back the dead to right the wrongs committed by the living against them. Wouldn't it be nice… no… she pushed the thought out of her mind. It was just a daydream, and right now there was no time for daydreams. The crow waited patiently. It was only a matter of time.


	2. Chapter 1

Mobile Suit _Gundam Wing  
_The Crow: Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Disclaimer:   
Gundam Wing and its characters are trademarked and copyright by Ban Dai. The Crow created by J.O. Barr. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to make money so do not distribute it with that purpose in mind!

Warning:   
This story contains violence, bad language, shonen ai, and references to the supernatural. Do not read if your parents won't let you go to a PG-13 movie!

Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Chapter One "All My Dreams Torn Asunder"  
After Colony 210, April 

"People once believed, that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, just sometimes, something so bad happens, that a terrible sadness is carried with it, and the soul can't rest. Then, sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back, to put the wrong things right."  
-excerpt from folk tales and urban legends

Relena Peacecraft ascended the steps to the second floor of the Dorlan Medical Center. Light shone through a window in the stairwell drawing her attention to it. Dark clouds loomed on the horizon, threatening to cover up the bright star. The storm was coming and there was no stopping it. She thought of Emerald Green sitting on the outskirts of the Sanc Kingdom, the edge of her horizon, just like the storm. If things didn't change soon for the better, that storm would eventually overtake the Sanc Kingdom and the whole human civilization, ruining it for all time. 

She shook her thoughts and feelings from her mind and pushed her way into the light blue hallway of the hospital. Nurses and doctors scurried about on their way to the next patients. Relena walked through, her head hung low, still accepting smiles from passersby. She had gotten used to this over the years, being a Queen did have its perks, however this was not one of them. Relena loosened the collar on her white dress uniform as she arrived at door 204, preparing herself for what awaited her inside.

Noin and Sally Poe sat next to each other, military jackets hanging open revealing their white shirts underneath. Sally was sleeping, her head resting on Noin's lap, Noin running her fingers through Sally's brown curls. At the sound of the door, Noin looked up to meet Relena's smiling face. Relena tiptoed inside and closed the door quietly behind her. She turned again to face Noin's tired eyes.

"No change?" asked Relena, hopefully.

Noin could only shake her head, looking back to Quatre's prone form laying on the hospital bed. Wires and tubes ran from his body to monitors and units keeping him alive. His blonde hair was barely visible around the equipment and breathing mask her wore. Relena wished he was awake and not in such a pitiful condition. He had been like this since the other Gundams had been destroyed the year before. Dorothy had forced the Sanc Kingdom from its position of peace and there was no one around to stop Dorothy once the Sanc Kingdom fell. Relena knew that Dorothy would not stop here, but would continue on after Sanc to take the whole world and the Colonies after that. Her reign would be one of chaos. Dorothy didn't care about the power, she just wanted a war, something to fight in, some reason to end lives and not be labeled a murderer.

"Poor Sally. She's been expecting him to wake up since he was put in here. I've expected some kind of response as well, but she wants to keep watching. I guess she feels responsible for him. She was the one who pulled him from Sandrock's wreckage…" Noin couldn't finish her sentence as she choked and wiped a tear away. "Why is she doing this?"

"She lost her mind a long time ago," answered Relena coldly. "When peace entered the world, Dorothy and others like her found themselves without an outlet for their anger. They had been able to express it through combat before, and now there was nothing comparable to it. Now as a terrorist group, they have that outlet they needed. Although their goal is somewhat insane, they are content with their purpose. I pity her."

"So is that the official story she's been telling the news crews?" asked Noin sarcastically.

Relena cracked a small smile at Noin's joke. "No, Lady Une and I came up with that little theory. She's twisted the news crews perspective probably through torture and threats. They think she is a great agent of change and is good for us all. Fools."

"They can't see that she's not going to stop until the whole world is in chaos," added Noin. "I just wish we had a functioning Gundam, one that could stand up to those mobile suits Emerald Green has."

Relena winced at the Gundam comment, remembering Deathscythe watching over the remains in the hangar not 100 yards away.

***

"Did you know that Relena once surrendered her entire kingdom to me? I wish you guys could have been there to see that," announced Dorothy over her mobile suits comm unit. General Catalonia smiled at the thought of Relena ending up dead at her feet. "All right, all members of Emerald Green Squad 4, attack!"

On Dorothy's command, a dozen red and blue Advanced Aries Series V Mobile Suits leapt from their cover in the dense forest, surrounding the small town of Plainsborough on the outskirts of the Sanc Kingdom. Plainsborough's only defense was an honor guard of two aging Leo mobile suits who didn't stand a chance of stopping the incoming mobile suits. General Catalonia knew there was no strategic value in the attack. Its purpose was to lower the morale in the area and to cause chaos. This area was far from where they had been attacking the previous day. It would drive Relena nuts trying to figure it out. Dorothy's smile grew wider.

The Leo's fought bravely, but were ripped in two in less than thirty seconds. The Emerald Green suits had little more than scratches. One of their pilots got a bruise. With no other targets, the mobile suit pilots began setting fire to the homes of Plainsborough. Screams could be heard emanating from the houses. People began to run into the streets and away from the attackers, but they were gunned down by gatling guns built into the onboard weapons.

General Catalonia gave the order to spread out and to leave no home standing. She began from the center of town and continued with the flames. Movement at the bottom of her screen caught her eye. A woman in her thirties was fleeing with a child in her arms. 

"No, now we can't have that," Dorothy said into the loudspeaker. "No survivors of this raid."

The mother ran faster. She laughed as she clutched the controls of her mobile suit, aiming for the woman's legs. The gatling gun flared to life, the women's legs were torn and ripped, she fell to the ground, the child fell before her.

"No survivors."

The mother and her child could only watch in horror as a giant metal leg lifted above their heads, and descended as quickly as the fire consuming the town. 

***

Lady Une made her way across the meadow to Dorlan Medical, her long braided hair flowing in the breeze. Her uniform was still as crisp as when she had put it on three days before. She was going to need some sleep soon, but one final message needed to be delivered to Queen Relena. Une had been trying to find new ways to stop General Catalonia, but had failed. She needed something changed to restore peace, but she knew there was nothing they could do right now. Space might be the answer soon.

Thunder sounded behind her as rain began to spatter the walk beneath her feet. Une quickened her pace, hoping to get out of the rain before it really hit. Rushing got her out of most of what hit the ground. Shortly after she entered the building, Une saw the waves of rain begin to pound down from the angry sky. She shook off her uniform jacket, straightening it as she proceeded to the elevator to the second floor.

Dorothy had struck again. She had left no survivors this time, but the bullets and giant footprints gave away what really happened. Elevator music reached out to soothe Lady Une's nerves, but she was too tired to hear it. It took everything she had to concentrate on the message.

The door to Quatre's room was unlocked. Une knocked out of courtesy and stepped inside. 

"Miss Relena," said Une quietly.

"Oh, Lady Une, you bring news?" asked Relena.

"Plainsborough has been destroyed. No survivors. It was Emerald Green, although they have yet to claim responsibility," answered Une, rather abruptly. Subtlety was not a strong point with her on no sleep.

"I see. Lady Une, when you've gotten some rest I want you to gather a squad together and make a retaliatory strike. Nothing big, but I want it known we're not happy about Plainsborough. We can't afford to lose too many so make sure they're experienced," ordered Relena, somewhat reluctantly.

"I'll leave immediately!" announced Une.

"No, rest first, then go," said Relena calmly.

"If it's all the same to you, I want on the team," announced a groggy Sally Po.

"Count me in as well then," added Noin.

Lady Une considered her options and finally announced her decision.

"We leave in ten hours. I'll need you two to start preparations while I rest," Lady Une could almost not get that last word out. She had a mission to take care of, her needs came after those of the Sanc Kingdom. Relena was right, however, she was on strung out shape and needed time to recover.

Noin got up to walk with Lady Une to her quarters. She needed to know what preparations Une wanted. Sally got up a little slower and wandered over to the hospital bed. She ran her hand over Quatre's forehead and into his hair, ruffling it a bit.

"Don't worry Sally," said Relena, putting her hand on Sally's shoulder. "I can watch him for you, like I always do."

"Thanks Miss Relena," said Sally, smiling awkwardly. "I'm surprised Noin doesn't get more upset with me over this obsession I have with Quatre."

"She doesn't, Sally. She knows you love her and care for her, and that you want to make sure that Quatre is going to be all right. Noin wants you to be happy."

"Noin told you that did she?" asked Sally, meeting Relena's gaze.

"No, it was just that obvious to me. Maybe now you can see it for yourself."

*** 

The Crow on the sill outside the hospital watched the two women next to Quatre thoughtfully. The rain pelted hard on its soft feathers, giving the dark bird a black sheen that made it seem even that much more impressive. It cocked its head slightly as if listening to something.

_Justice.  
Innocence.  
Life.  
Victory.  
Death._

They were calling him. The grave was calling him, the grave with the god of death awaited. The crow took flight, soaring through the 500 yards of rain and thunder to find the grave of Duo Maxwell, the marker for the four Gundam Boys who had lost their lives one year ago.

It landed gracefully on the slick, wet marble grave marker. The sound of waterfalls could be made out over the rain. It was a peaceful place for a grave, the crow decided. It began its calling sound, gently pecking at the grave marker as if to say, "wake up" to the man who was buried below.

Darkness surrounded Duo Maxwell when he awoke, darkness and pain. He reached out before him and his hands met wood. He was trapped. He needed to get out. Duo began pushing hard, the lid of the box he was in opening to let in mud. He tried to get some air, but there was none. He was suffocating! Duo began clawing his way upward toward the surface. After just a few short seconds, the mud gave way to air and rain and Duo sucked in a breath of air. He pulled himself slowly from the hole in the ground, when he heard a bird above him.

Duo Maxwell looked up to see a large, black crow sitting on a grave marker. He read it quickly, and the events before his death came back in a flash. He clutched his chest in pain and fell backwards into the muddy ground, the rain washing the soil from his body and hair that now fell free from his braid. Duo let out an unholy wail, and then sobbed.

The crow cut short his painful session by flying low and landing farther up on the hill from him. It squawked at him, flew up the hill a few more feet, then squawked again.

"You want me to go with you?" asked Duo hoarsely.

The bird again squawked at him and flew up the hill a bit more. Duo got up slowly, stiffly, stumbling up the hill after the mysterious bird. The surroundings grew more familiar to him, despite the incessant rainfall. He could make out a waterfall and a river nearby and a small outcropping of trees. He and Heero had spent many peaceful moments here together before the dark times and even during a few dark times. It brought little comfort now as he felt so cold and alone.

The crow had led him to a large door that hung slightly askew, not big enough for a man to fit through, but the crow could easily squeeze through. It squawked again and disappeared through that crack. Duo pushed on the door hard, the metal hinges squeaking loudly and echoing inside the structure. There was little light inside, but it had a roof, Duo was grateful for that at least. He could hear the bird rummaging about and he followed the sound.

"Hey, bird," Duo called out. "Do you know why I'm here?"

The crow squawked its answer back.

Duo walked forward toward the bird hoping for answers. 

"I must be crazy, I'm trying to get answers from a bird!" said Duo aloud.

Just then lightning flashed and lit up the Gundam hangar. Shinigami glittered in the bright light, its metal surfaces gleaming clean. Duo stumbled back a bit in shock at the sight. His Gundam was whole! But it shouldn't be? Duo was confused. The light faded away, the crow squawked.

"What do you want from me?" Duo asked loudly.

Shinigami's eyes lit up just then, the head turning to look at Duo.

_ Justice.  
Innocence.  
Life.  
Victory._

"Death," finished Duo, out loud. "I know what I must do." Duo began walking towards his repaired Gundam, his wet hair flowing in the wind. The crow flew up and settled onto his shoulder ready to face the challenge.


	3. Chapter 2

Mobile Suit _Gundam Wing  
_The Crow: Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Disclaimer:   
Gundam Wing and its characters are trademarked and copyright by Ban Dai. The Crow created by J.O. Barr. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to make money so do not distribute it with that purpose in mind!

Warning:   
This story contains violence, bad language, shonen ai, and references to the supernatural. Do not read if your parents won't let you go to a PG-13 movie!

Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Chapter Two "Death's Guide"  
After Colony 210, April 

"I am not the one so far away  
When I feel the snakebite enter my veins  
Never did I want to be here again  
And I don't remember why I came."  
"Voodoo" by Godsmack 

Wet footfalls could be heard through the dark hangar as the until-recently deceased Duo Maxwell strode towards his dimly lit Gundam that had waited patiently for his return for a year. Deathscythe had never looked better to him, fully repaired and restored, it managed to gleam in the almost total darkness, as if his pilots' return was no strange occurrence. The crow leapt from Duo's shoulder, unfolding its wings it sailed towards Deathscythe Hell and landed atop the entryway. Cawing at him, it seemed to motion him onward, to the tool of his revenge.

It was a strange feeling, nagging at him, as if something was missing, but he couldn't quite place what. It was a memory, something bad, from the past. Duo shook it off, reaching quickly for the wire that would take him to his chair, the seat of power in Deathscythe Hell. His long hair fell wetly about his shoulders and back as he leapt up and grabbed hold of the dangling line. Duo made a mental note to braid his hair back at the earliest possible convenience. He began to climb, when soft footfalls behind him bade him to stop and see who would dare disturb his new mission.

"Who are you, better yet, what are you?" asked a rather bewildered Duo of the strange figure before him. Besides having no face, as Duo could only make out a human skull, the thing wore some kind of heavy cape that appeared to absorb the light around it, making him seem more ominous. His other clothing seemed even more out of place, giving him an almost comical look if not for the face, or lack thereof. Duo almost laughed at the cowboy boots, hat, and western style outfit of the figure, this Skull Cowboy, but he couldn't do it. It didn't seem right to him, and somewhere in his soul, Duo was afraid of him.

"I am the second of many guides you'll have here on this plane to assist you in your path to vengeance," answered the Skull Cowboy in an almost human voice. It scratched and was far too raspy to be anyone alive and was almost drowned out by the rain outside. He raised his arm, throwing back the dark cape to expose the shoulder beneath. The crow, having been so eager to get Duo into his Gundam, suddenly flew to the Skull Cowboy's shoulder and perched there. It seemed to Duo that they were meant for each other, were one unit, one entity. The crow turned on the cowboy's shoulder to face the bewildered Gundam pilot and cawed at him to let him know it was ok.

"I'm confused," stated Duo rather bluntly. "I don't know what's going on and my head aches." He tried to clear his mind, but the fog would not lift. This was a bit much. A man with no face in a cowboy outfit and a crow were his guides? Was this all a dream? He must have fallen and hit his head. He was having a very bad dream. Had he really died and come back to life? Was he really Shinigami? A name finally popped into his head through the fog, "Heero."

"Yes, he is one of many reasons for your return. You should continue to Deathscythe if you feel ready for the truth. I did not mean to stop you on your path to justice, merely to observe your re-awakening here," said the Skull Cowboy with his raspy voice. "Deathscythe Hell has some things to show you. From there my brothers and I will help you acquire the justice you seek."

_Justice.  
Innocence.  
Life.  
Victory.  
Death._

The mantra Duo kept hearing seemed to get louder again, then fade to the background fog inside his head. He looked up at his waiting Gundam. Lightning crashed outside, illuminating the hangar. Deathscythe Hell appeared to reach out and swallow him whole in that one brief instant, giving Duo pause. As quickly as it had swallowed him the lightning was gone and Deathscythe appeared to be unmoved. Duo looked to the crow. It blinked expectantly at him then launched itself for his Gundam again, sitting above the cockpit gantry waiting patiently for its charge. 

The reborn Shinigami easily climbed the cord as he had many times before to reach the crow. It padded back and forth excitedly, demanding Duo take action. Placing his hands on either side of the doorway, Duo not only felt the cold and unforgiving metal of his Gundam, but a fear welling up inside. He wasn't sure if he was ready or if he even wanted to know what had happened at this point. Maybe it was too horrible. A shiver ran up his spine, more from the thought than the actual cold, but Duo did notice it was getting to him. Maybe he was mortal after all.

Beginning to have doubts, Duo looked back to the floor and the Skull Cowboy, half hoping him to be there, the other half hoping him to be gone. The grim smile of a skull beneath a cowboy hat greeted him, urging him to take his seat in the Gundam. He could hear the voices in the back of his head repeating the mantra he'd heard since his awakening: justice, innocence, life, victory, death. It kept repeating over and over, getting louder now. Duo slowly climbed into the pilot's couch trying to clear his mind. 

"All right big guy," said Duo reaching for the controls. "Show me what you know."

A blinding flash of light hit Duo as he grasped the control stick. He could see something from the past, a dark night and an empty field. He and Deathscythe were on patrol there. He could make out five blips on his radar, himself at the center. A voice rang out over a speaker in the cabin, a voice he knew from his past. It started off distorted, but became clearer, more crisp and defined. Duo had been here before his death. Duo knew this place as his last stand with his friends and loved ones. Shinigami knew that voice well. It was Heero Yuy.

***

Dorothy stood over the battle mapper inside her Mobile Command Unit admiring the destruction wreaked by Emerald Green on Plainsborough. The attack had been successful, as she knew it would be. The town stood no chance and was meant to be a slaughter to try and force Relena into a more combat intensive position. 'Let's see how peaceful she is after she sees the remains of the little town,' thought Dorothy. 

She loosened the tunic collar on her uniform, getting into a somewhat more relaxed state for Christo. She sighed again at the thought of Relena tortured over the loss of innocent lives. This had been a necessary attack, although a waste of ammunition. She was going to have a talk with Marco when he got back. The Leo's had needed to be taken out with weapons, but gunning down civilians when you could simply step on them was inexcusable. 'Queen' Relena would send out an investigative team, she was sure of it. They'd be arriving at the scene soon, more heavily armed and prepared than the aging Leo's had been. Sneaking up on them had been too easy and hardly any challenge. 

Glancing out the window at her Aries Mobile Suit, General Catalonia smiled at the gore slowly washing away from her suit's foot in the rain. The mother and child had made such a satisfying squish when she'd stepped on them. Dorothy knew that would push Lady Une over the edge, causing her to make a mistake or two when they arrived at Plainsborough. Her ambush would get at least a few of them, she was sure of it. A knock at the door woke her from her reverie.

"Come," she sounded, turning back to the battle plans once again. Dorothy's smile grew as Christo, her favorite lieutenant and lover entered. His uniform was spotless as always, his shoulder length hair pulled back tight in a ponytail. His German ancestry played through his facial features and hair, making him look very much the part of a nobleman. His eyes followed her as he entered the war room, locking onto her exposed neck and cleavage.

"General Catalonia," he smiled warmly. "I bring news." Christo moved to the battle planner and called up set of maps. Dorothy eyed him lightly, and evil glint shining through.

"Christo, we're alone. Call me by my name." She sat seductively in her chair, crossing her legs to show them off through the tight material of her uniform. "What news do you bring?"

"Jesse went AWOL this morning after the attack," said Christo bluntly. There had been no easy way to say it and he knew Dorothy didn't like him beating around the bush with her. "We located his mobile suit shortly after he went missing, but this weather made his escape route untraceable and we lost him."

Dorothy snorted. Jesse had been ready to leave for a long time now. She knew it had been coming, but she had hoped he would have at least lasted until the regional offensive Dorothy had planned against Relena and all her little friends. Jesse had been a good soldier, but his newfound sense of morality and justice had been a large pain in the ass for awhile. 'It's just as well,' thought Dorothy. 'The last thing we need is another Chang Wufei in our midst.'

"Never mind him for now. Is the trap set for our unsuspecting heroes?" she asked of her Lieutenant.

Christo waved his hand over the planner and a computerized battle plan began to unfold. "It's all set. I have gold squad waiting for them just outside and green squad is hiding in the sewers. I'm expecting heavy casualties on their side," he added smugly.

"You do realize Lucretzia, Une and Sally Po will be there? Are you prepared for them?" asked General Catalonia, doubtfully.

"Davis is prepared to go after Une or the others if she sees any of the Royal Guard. She'll engage them first with extreme prejudice. No mercy," answered Christo, his icy demeanor almost hiding the glint in his eyes. Dorothy excited him like no other woman. She could be so cruel and yet so loving at the same time. It was that same passion that drove him and made him wild for her. Dorothy knew this as well.

"Excellent. We'll call it an early night then," said Dorothy, leaning over to give him a good view as she turned off the Virtual Planner. "My quarters. I want you naked and handcuffed in five minutes, or you'll be the one experiencing extreme prejudice."

Christo fled the room and was in her cabin in two.

***

Relena paced the hospital room as she watched over poor Quatre. It seemed he reacted to storms quite often but it was never a good sign. Tonight was one of those nights, his heart rate up, breathing ragged and strained. The lightning was getting to her as well. It had not been a good day. Noin and the others hadn't reported in, but they should just be getting to Plainsborough. She didn't like it. There was no reason for an attack on such a small town. Two Leo's were hardly a threat. It was either a setup or an attack on her. Relena supposed it could be both, but that answer seemed so cruel. Then she remembered who she was referring to, Dorothy, the wicked witch of the west.

She finally gave up her pacing and sat on the couch that Noin and Sally Po had previously occupied. Relena thought about those two and their strained affair. She was sure it was love, but couldn't be certain. She missed Heero and Duo and her thoughts turned back to them. The three had had some good times together, especially near the waterfall. It had taken some time for Duo to let her in to the mix, but it had been fun. After their loss the year before, Relena had thrown herself into the struggle against Dorothy and her mad army at her borders. 

Not having a lot of time on her hands had let her grief slide to the side and allowed her to function. It was the quiet times with the comatose Quatre and walking in the hangar that got to her. She missed all of the pilots, really. Quatre was here, but she missed talking to him, hearing him laugh and trying to get Trowa involved with the rest of them. Wufei had been a mystery to them all, but he had still been a part of the group. Relena had guessed that he and Lady Une had been somewhat involved, but one could never tell with those two.

A tear managed to fall down her cheek before she wiped it away. Another quickly followed; soon she was sobbing in tune to the storm. A year's worth of grief fell in a few short minutes, coloring Relena's face and eyes red, the true color of pain and anguish. Finally, she got herself under control and wiped the tears from her eyes, sniffling here and there, but otherwise composed, as she needed to be. Relena had to be strong like Heero had been, even at the end. Dorothy had tried to make him beg for his life, but he had stayed quiet, even as she had destroyed Wing Zero's pilot's compartment and Heero with it.

"Damn you Dorothy," spat Relena. "Damn you and all your flying monkeys to hell." She crossed her arms about her, looking to Quatre for comfort, his labored but steady breathing keeping her calm. He looked even more fragile hooked to all of those life support machines. They weren't really necessary, but they couldn't always be here for him and everyone wanted to be sure he pulled through. Even now. Relena looked out the window towards the burned out house she had built for the Gundam pilots, herself, and the other three women. It looked so empty now after the fire. They'd thought about salvaging it, but it was a monument to all until this war was over.

A soft voice brought Relena back to Quatre. Had he spoke? She must have been hearing things, but still she watched. A few minutes passed, and still nothing. Relena tried not to blink as she watched and listened. Then it happened, Quatre moaned lightly. She was up in an instant at his bedside.

"Quatre, Quatre, it's me Relena. Can you hear me? Tell me you can hear me?" pleaded Relena, holding his hand tightly.

"Duo…"he spoke softly, almost dreamily.

"Yes Quatre, what is it?" asked Relena.

"Duo has returned…" he whispered.

"Quatre?" Relena was stunned. 

That's when it happened. 

Quatre's heartbeat flat-lined.

To be continued….


	4. Chapter 3

Mobile Suit _Gundam Wing  
_The Crow: Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Disclaimer:   
Gundam Wing and its characters are trademarked and copyright by Ban Dai. The Crow created by J.O. Barr. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to make money so do not distribute it with that purpose in mind!

Warning:   
This story contains violence, bad language, shonen ai, and references to the supernatural. Do not read if your parents won't let you go to a PG-13 movie!

Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Chapter Three "Life's Dream"  
After Colony 210, April 

"Pressing me they won't go away  
So I pray, go away

Beating me down  
Beating me beating me   
Down, down  
Into the ground  
Screamings of sound  
Beating me beating me  
Down, down  
Into the ground"  
-Korn, "Falling Away From Me"

Duo reeled in agony. The pain was all encasing. One second everything had been fine, then the waves of intense pain just hit him. The tides seemed to be never ending and all he could do was squirm. Then it stopped just as it started and he wasn't in the hangar anymore. He was outside. More importantly, he was in their spot. The sound of the waterfall nearby caressed Duo's ear, calming him. It was a good feeling. He lay back against the ground near the small river. Was this heaven?

He jumped when he felt a pair of hands going through his hair, working out his braid. 

"Sit still, baka."

The voice soothed him. It was Heero. Duo lifted his head and placed it into Heero's lap. This had to be heaven. It was good to feel the gentle caresses again. It could almost always put him to sleep. The hands grabbed his hair tight and yanked it back, causing more exquisite pain. Heero wasn't there anymore. It was Dorothy, and Duo wasn't in Kansas anymore.

"Good Morning, beautiful," she said, pulling his head closer to her face. "I know you're going to like this one."

The scenery melted, replaced with a village burning in intense heat and flames. Duo's body felt like it was on fire. He had to get out of there. The scenery melted again and Duo was in a familiar cockpit. He was in Deathscythe. His hands played over the controls, his viewscreens showing the carnage that he knew he had seen before. Out of his peripheral vision Duo could see Wing Zero on guard against incoming mobile suits, ready for the coming fight. This was going to be bad. 

"I know how this is going to end," whimpered Duo. "Heero! Get out of there! Run!"

Wing Zero did not move. It stood its ground like an angel against an unknown darkness. Unknown to all here, except Duo. 

"Hey Maxwell," chirped Dorothy's voice over the intercom. "Watch this! I know you'll enjoy it."

An intense heat flared from somewhere off screen. Deathscythe turned to face it as it hit Wing, blowing it into several white-hot chunks of irregular metal. Duo cried out, knowing it'd be useless, and began firing the Vulcan cannons. The shots seemed to bounce off the superior Mobile Suit. Dorothy began walking towards him. She discarded her cannon and pulled out a large scythe that glowed purple.

"Come to me, my Duo!"

Duo was petrified. It was happening again, and there was no stopping it. He closed his eyes as the Advanced Aries suit bore down on him, Dorothy's cackling and the other pilots' death screams ringing in his ears. The world was spinning, spiraling out of control. Duo felt like he was falling, falling away from it all. He landed against a slick black floor with a thud. There was no light here, except for a big cone that surrounded only him. There was no noise here. Where was he?

_Justice.  
Innocence.  
Life.  
Victory.  
Death._

The voices in his head were talking to him again. What did they want from him? Damn them. Damn them all. He wouldn't do it. Duo had listened to his inner voices for years and it only brought him misery and a big psychiatric bill. Screw them.

_Life.  
Innocence.  
Justice.  
Victory.  
Death._

It was different this time. He recognized that much. Duo was so confused. Where had the Skull Cowboy gone? And where was the crow that had guided him to this nightmare? Why should they be spared his hell?

Footfalls resounding off invisible walls broke his self-pity. They were getting closer. Duo tried to stand but found he lacked the energy. He managed to sit up, but that was all she wrote. 

"Duo," said a soft comforting voice. He should know this voice. He couldn't place it though. It was all so fuzzy.

A figure appeared in the cone. It was a blonde man. He was dressed in a pink shirt and dark pants and had goggled on his head.   
"Quatre?" asked Duo. Was that his name? He couldn't be sure but that's who he thought this was.

"Yes," answered the man. Quatre walked forward and got crouched so that his face was level with Duo's. His smile was warm and re-assuring. It eased some of the pain in Duo's heart.

"Do you know why you're here?" asked Quatre.

"No," answered Duo, honestly. "I have no idea. It's all a blur."

"Something bad happened, Duo. Dorothy destroyed us all. She's gone mad. There is no saving her anymore. Dorothy must be stopped."

"But you weren't with us in the other place," said Duo. He remembered that much. He didn't know why.

"I am between Duo. But I see a light. I shouldn't," Quatre said. His face became a twisted knot of pain. "It's not my time. It wasn't time for any of us, Duo. This should not have happened. You're here to avenge us. Out of all of us, you were the most capable. You are Shinigami, after all."

Duo grinned, but it faded quickly. "If it's not your time, then why?"

"I'm dying Duo. In a hospital bed. That's why I'm here. You were supposed to be working for another, but I'm pre-empting it."

The Skull Cowboy. Duo's face flashed with recognition. It suddenly dawned on him, why. He must destroy Dorothy and her crew. They were to blame, and it was all up to him. He would destroy them all. He would make it right. All of it.

Quatre smiled. He knew what Duo had just remembered. At last, their time would come again.

Another cone of light shone down, highlighting Deathscythe. Duo was in the Gundam hangar.

"I have a favor, Duo," said Quatre, a worried expression on his face. "You have the power to save me. I know Trowa is waiting for me, but it isn't my time. Fate told me so. Please come for me. I can assist you. I promise."

Quatre leaned over and placed a kiss on Duo's lips. 

He smiled and backed out of the light cone and was gone.

Duo knew what he must do. The light returned to normal, the cones gone like a whisper. It was just a hangar now. The crow landed in front of him and cawed. 

"And where the hell have you been?" asked Duo. 

***

Relena paced outside the hospital room. Quatre didn't deserve this. He should be up and full of life, making people smile. She looked more than distraught. It was as if all she had worked for was going to come crashing down any second. Relena couldn't deal with Quatre's death on top of everything else. All that would keep her together now would be good news from Plainsborough.

Relena glanced at her watch. It had been almost an hour since they had removed her from the room. She had been in hysterics. Quatre couldn't go. This was all too much for her. Relena left the hallway and made for her happy place, the waterfall, the hangar, and the gravestone.   
Rain pelted her as she walked through the courtyard without so much as a coat on. She was intent on her destination and didn't notice the dark figure clambering up the side of the building, braid swinging away behind him, crow perched on his shoulder. All Relena knew was that she needed to be someplace safe. Tears streaked her face, mixing with the rain. She started to run. She ran into the remains of the house to the hangar door. 

It was open.

'That's strange,' she thought. She swore she had shut this when she had left earlier that day. Relena shook her head. It didn't matter. She ran down into the hangar, taking comfort in the familiar lights illuminating Deathscythe. That's when she spotted the muddy footprints coming from outside. The door was open. Relena knew that one had been closed. Someone had been here. Relena pulled her sidearm. She was glad now that she hadn't protested to it too much when Une had forced it upon her. It would protect her from whoever was here. She searched the hangar and found no one. This was too creepy. There were no footsteps out. Where did that intruder go?

Relena carefully made her way to the door. That's when she saw the upturned Earth at the gravesite. Someone had defiled the pilots' graves! Running out into the weather again, Relena approached the gravestone. The grave was empty. Duo's body wasn't there and the coffin lay open. It was as if someone had crawled out of it. That's when the thought hit her. Quatre had said something before he went under. Did he know?

"Duo? Back from the dead," said Relena, kicking at a bit of upturned mud. "Welcome home, Shinigami."

To Be Continued…


	5. Chapter 4

Mobile Suit _Gundam Wing  
_The Crow: Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Disclaimer:   
Gundam Wing and its characters are trademarked and copyright by Ban Dai. The Crow created by J.O. Barr. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to make money so do not distribute it with that purpose in mind!

Warning:   
This story contains violence, bad language, shonen ai, and references to the supernatural. Do not read if your parents won't let you go to a PG-13 movie!

Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Chapter Four "Last Breath"  
After Colony 210, April 

"And they placed in his hands  
A sword  
Made for him  
Called: Vengeance  
Forged in brimstone  
And tempered  
By the Wolf in tears of the Unavenged

And to carry him up on his journey  
Back to the upper world  
They brought forth  
Their Demon horse  
Called: Black Death  
A grim steed  
So fiercely might  
And black in color  
That he could stand as one: Darkness...  
Save from his burning eyes  
of grims and fire

And on that night  
They rode up from Hell  
The pounding of his hooves  
Did clap like thunder!"  
-Manowar, "Dark Avenger"

Lady Une, Noin, and Sally Po led their squad over the area of Plainsborough. The flames were a very good indication of foul play on the part of Emerald Green. There appeared to be nothing left. Une's face was a mixture of pain and hatred as she swung her Taurus suit over the carnage below.

"Any sign of life?" she asked over her comm, not really expecting an answer.

Noin could only shake her head. This was too much. Dorothy had gone too far this time. There was no need to destroy this place. It was an attack designed to provoke them into doing something stupid on the battlefield. It was working. She tightened her grip on the control stick to her mobile suit reflexively, bringing it into an approach vector to the town.

"Noin!" cried out Sally Po, "what in gods name are you doing?"

"Looking for survivors," said Noin coldly. "Dorothy may have left someone alive."

"All right," said Une, pulling her mecha in behind Noin's. "Sally you come with us. The rest of you hang back in a holding pattern. This may be a trap, and I don't want to be the star in an ambush."

The three mobile suits blazed into Town Square, one of the few places untouched by the roaring inferno around them. The fountain stood as a monument to what once was, and to the people who had lived there. Lady Une spotted two forms lying by the side of the street next to the fountain. She skillfully set her mobile suit down next to the bodies, relaying an order to Noin and Sally to stand by. Soon she was running across the street to the forms, her purple jumpsuit catching the firelight around her. The wind caught and lifted her hair briefly in her run.

What she saw when she got there made her sick. Dorothy had done this. No one else would have crushed a mother and child like this. That was the only thing that could have happened. Their bodies lay broken and mangled before her, one not quite ending where the other began. Lady Une could only cry for their loss. 'Treize would not have condoned this,' she suddenly thought. It had been awhile since she had thought of either him or Zechs. Now was not the time as she forced images of the two from her mind. She began the trek back to her mobile suit. There was nothing they could do here.

Une's internal alarm went off just before she got to the boarding line for her Taurus. Out of the corner of her eye she could make out two separate mecha, cleverly hidden in the brush. They were the advanced Aries suits the Emerald Green was using! It was an ambush! She jumped for her line just as the two mobile suits powered up and flew from their hiding place.

Noin and Sally moved to protect Une as she boarded, calling in the backup forces. The Aries closed in, shots of heated plasma flying everywhere. Alex and Mueller's demented laughter could be heard over the comm boards and the explosions.

***

Duo had managed to sneak inside Quatre's hospital room after the doctor's had stabilized him. There wasn't much they could do. His heart rate was low, brain activity almost nil. Relena had disappeared in the confusion. Duo knew where she had gone, but he wasn't about to tell the doctor's that. The window had opened easily. 'So much for hospital security,' thought Duo. The crow flew into the room behind him. It perched itself atop the head of Quatre's bed and squawked at Duo.

The rain didn't seem to phase him anymore. It was still cold, but it didn't have as much bite as it did 4 hours ago. Shinigami strode across the room to Quatre's side. Despite the tubes and wires that seemed to sprout from Quatre like a small, dead, plastic forest, Quatre seemed content. A tear fell down Duo's cheek. Was this all that remained of the once great Preventer squad? Poor Quatre. So alone. Duo cocked his head to one side, as if listening to a band that no one else could hear.

__

Life.

That's what the band was playing. It was no longer the long mantra that had been beaten into his head before. It was a simple phrase. Just one word that rolled off the tongue like any other. But it said so much. Here was a life he could save. Duo reached out, pulling his black suit back the best he could. He still couldn't believe they had buried him in his priest outfit. He'd have to say something to Relena about that. Duo's hands made their way to Quatre's face, removing a few tubes, here and there. Shinigami smiled. Quatre was a cute man. Duo would give him that much.

In one fluid motion, Duo bent over close to Quatre's face and planted a kiss, just a small one, on the lips of the great Arabian Knight.

"Live the life that was taken from me, Quatre. You were our heart's blood. It's only fitting," said Duo, backing away from the bed and moving to the window. The crow squawked again, as if to protest. "Our work is finished here little bird. There are bigger fish in the sea this night. Come."

Quatre's eyes fluttered open, his heart rate stabilizing, his brain activity increasing exponentially. He saw a form in black with a big crow on its shoulder, a long braid running down the back. The figure smiled at him, Quatre smiled back.

"Duo," Quatre managed speak weakly. And like that, Shinigami was gone.

***

Relena had been pacing back and forth in front of Deathscythe Hell for what had seemed like hours. Duo was back from the dead. He would help to save them. She knew it. It had to be the legend, the one about the crow. It had to be. But why hadn't Duo come back to his Gundam? Why? It wasn't making any sense to her. Finally she stopped pacing and stared long and hard at Duo's Gundam. Then it hit her; the hatch was open!

"Duo was here!" she exclaimed, turning and running for the stairwell that led up to the upper portion of the house. Duo would want something for himself, some kind of momento to take with him on his trip, something to remember them all by and to keep him on track. He would be in their old rooms soon enough. She hoped to catch him. She wanted to help. This was a way she could be involved, a way to strike out against the darkness threatening her kingdom and the world.

Queen Relena ran up the stairs, into the ruin that had once been a home to the five boys. Fire had claimed part of it not too long ago, but the rooms the boys had stayed in had been spared. No one had known why before, but Relena knew now. She ran down the hallway to the room Heero and Duo had shared. There she would wait for Shinigami to return to her.

***

Things were not going well for the Peacecraft forces. Dorothy watched in absolute glee as Emerald Green moved in and surrounded the Queen's Personal Guard. She had lost a few, granted, but they were about to lose their entire best squad, including that bitch Une and those two dykes Noin and Sally Po. There was just something about straight lesbians that disgusted Dorothy. She couldn't stand someone who wasn't into just getting a good lay from a man. Noin hadn't been that way originally, but after Zechs… well that was another matter. 

She turned her attention back to the battle display before her. It was almost an orgasmic experience watching the battles. It gave her a certain thrill, just to know that these people were willing to die and kill for her. A wide smile crossed her face as she saw an enemy blip explode into a million little pieces. 

"That's it boys and girls. Let them know recess is over. And for godsakes, will someone put Une out of her misery before she has another conniption?" asked Dorothy of her crew.

"Right on that one, boss," came Alex's answer.

"Dammit, Alex they are mine!" shouted Davis, annoyed that any male would dare suggest taking her kill.

"OOOO. Someone is PMSing!" retorted Mueller.

"All right everyone. Just keep it in formation. I want them all dead and everyone gets a piece of the pie," cooed Dorothy.

***

Duo was glad to be back in the house. It had served its purpose, and would again. He needed something. He wasn't sure what. It was a compulsion. He had to go here. That's all he knew. That and his crow. It had led him here, again.

"Well," asked Duo, gesturing to the burned out passageway. "Where to now?"

The bird answered by flapping its wings, taking off and heading for his room. It plopped down outside, cocking its head in a funny manner at him. It squawked again, walking into his room.

Duo let out a small giggle. 'And suddenly I heard a tapping, as if someone rapping at my chamber door. Quoth the raven, nevermore.' He still couldn't believe he was following a bird around. 

"A crow is my guide. I must be nuts," announced Duo out loud. Gently he ran his fingers along the wall. A barrage of familiar images assailed him, Wufei in his Halloween garb, Trowa and Quatre playing their instruments together, Heero reaching gingerly for his hand in a dance.

_Justice.  
Innocence.  
Life.  
Victory.  
Death._

There it was again. His consciences talking to him. He shook his head and walked towards his old room. Shinigami wasn't looking forward to this. If just the wall and his Gundam did this to him, the images from his and Heero's bedroom might very well kill him. Duo turned the corner and very nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Hello Duo Maxwell. Welcome home."

TO BE CONTINUED…


	6. Chapter 5

Mobile Suit _Gundam Wing  
_The Crow: Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Disclaimer:   
Gundam Wing and its characters are trademarked and copyright by Ban Dai. The Crow created by J.O. Barr. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to make money so do not distribute it with that purpose in mind!

Warning:   
This story contains violence, bad language, shonen ai, and references to the supernatural. Do not read if your parents won't let you go to a PG-13 movie!

Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Chapter Five "The Lady Falls"  
After Colony 210, April 

"Just paint your face the shadows smile  
Slipping me away from you   
Oh it doesn't matter how you hide   
Find you if we're wanting to   
Slide back down and close your eyes   
Sleep a while   
You must be tired... "  
-The Cure, "Burn"

Dorothy watched, her breath short, her body tense, excited, on the edge. Her forces had separated those of the Peacecrafts' and were making short work of them. This was all too much for her. It was overwhelming. Did she really need Christo after this? She shook again, letting a moan escape her lips as another mobile suit exploded. This was too much. With Christo she had control; here and now she had none. She was glad she was the only one in her control room. This could have been embarrassing. She felt like a teenager discovering herself for the first time, but this certainly wasn't her first. 

General Catalonia could not believe her good fortune. This was going better than hoped and would certainly drive the Sanc Kingdom into an action that would bring them down. Dorothy smiled warmly at the thought. She was destined to rule the world. She knew that now. It was hers and hers alone to rule. Then it happened. Lady Une's mobile suit was toppled. She shuddered with anticipation as four of her troops surrounded it and each took a limb. It only took a few seconds, the forces on the suit tremendous. A spray of electrical sparks, wiring, parts and metallic chunks marked the end of Lady Une's mobile suit and her influence in the battle.

Cries of pleasure could be heard by anyone walking past the war room. Insane laugher and moans of sheer ecstasy followed by a sudden thud. No one would dare question what was going on inside. 

Dorothy lay spent, exhausted, and feeling utterly satisfied on her war room floor. It had been too much for her. Her desires had gotten the better of her, and she had loved every minute of it, including her climax. 'If only Christo was this good,' she thought to herself. She sent out an order to her troops. 

Withdraw. 

Une's piloting days were over. It was only a matter of time now and then she'd be in charge. Nothing on Earth could stop her now.

***

Duo had blacked out when he had entered his old bedroom. He lay twitching on the floor. Relena picked him up and carried him to the bed. It was as if he was reliving some horrible nightmare. The bird had settled on the nightstand next to Heero and Duo's former place of rest. She sat there calmly, stroking his hair. The braid was such a mess. She'd have to fix that when he was better. Shinigami looked so lost, like a child who'd lost their mother in the store and wasn't quite sure which way was out. It went on this way for several minutes, until finally he settled down, quiet in her arms.

His eyes shot open and fixed on her.

"Relena," he said, his voice cracking dryly.

"Hi Duo. Welcome home.'

He shot up again, leaping form the bed, falling into the wall. Duo's hands shot to his head, holding it, wavering on his feet. He looked about ready to collapse again. Relena was unsure, but she went to comfort him.

"Don't touch me!" he screamed, sliding away from the woman he had called friend.

"What's wrong?" Relena asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"I need the images to stop for a second. Just one second."

Memories were flooding Duo's mind again. Too many all at once. So many memories, thoughts, feelings, anger, pain. When he had first entered the room they had overwhelmed him. He had seen his first night here with Heero, the other pilots watching scary movies in the middle of a Saturday night, Wufei weeping in his arms over Meiran's memory. That's when he had blacked out. Then he head been in Relena's arms and it was like someone had switched reels on the projector. It had started again with the picnics he, Relena and Heero had next to the falls, and a quiet moment with Relena on the beach, his 24th birthday and her gift of the motorcycle he'd designed, a quiet kiss when Heero wasn't looking. Slowly, they eased off of him, letting go slowly of his mind, letting him regain some control of his mental faculties.

The crow squawked again, bringing him back to the present. Shinigami turned his attention back to Relena who was about to burst into tears beside him. Duo casually wiped away a few stray drops, creating a smile on the Queen's face. "I'm sorry," said Duo. "Too much contact with something, sometimes even a little sets off memories, like a movie I can't leave. It's too much. I got a lot of them from you and it hurt. That's why I didn't want you to touch me."

"I know why you're back. You're here for revenge and to help us, right?" asked Relena nervously.

"I hate to disappoint you, but I'm here on my own business," said Duo coldly. "It may involve taking out a few key enemies of yours, but I'm afraid you'll have to deal with some of your problems on your own. I'm sorry."

"That's ok. I came here to wait for you. Quatre knew you were back. I'm going to go check on him when you're ready to go," said Relena, not quite sure where she stood with the God of Death anymore.

Duo turned to her and grinned. "Don't' be afraid. You're not on my list. Although I think the list growing."

"What?" asked Relena.

Duo ignored her, looking off to the distance, as if some outside voice was whispering to him. He brushed past Relena, to the dresser next to the bed. Something in there was calling out to him. He opened the drawer and pulled out Heero's old pistol. A look of pain crossed Duo's face, and was gone just as quickly as it appeared. He studied it for a brief moment, then pulled back the hammer, loading the first round into the chamber. "Excellent," he said, almost in a monotone. He rifled through another drawer and pulled out what looked to be a key, to what Relena did not know, but it looked familiar. He wrapped the cord attached to the object around his hand, making a kind of strange wrap out of it. Reaching up to his throat, he removed the collar that had been bugging him so.

The bird flew from the room then, across the hall, making a ruckus in what had been Wufei's room. Duo strode past Relena, nearly forcing her out of the way as he went to follow the bird. No strange images awaited him here, only a large black trench coat laid hastily out one year ago. Duo picked it up, feeling the texture of it in his hands. He saw Wufei's face, the day Duo had given it to him. It had been the anniversary of Wufei and Meiran's wedding. It would have been their 10th. A tear fell down Duo's cheek. He shook it away, throwing the trench coat on. He pulled the braid out from underneath the coat, feeling very much the American badass he claimed to be. Something was missing though, and the crow wasn't giving any answers as it sat on the bed, admiring its handiwork.

"Well," Duo asked of the bird. "Now what?"

"May I?" asked Relena from the hallway.

Duo bowed to her rather majestically. "Be my guest my Queen. Please feel free to enlighten me." He looked up and smiled, Relena returning the gesture as she led him to Trowa and Quatre's room.

***

Christo skulked about the exterior of the Drunken Maid, not quite sure if he should venture inside. Jesse was in there. The deserter. The man that had betrayed Dorothy and went AWOL. The man that had his son held hostage for over a year, working to get him returned, only to have him butchered no less than a week ago. The man that waited in there was Christo's friend. 

He had risked a lot in coming here. If Dorothy found out it could mean his demise. Christo needed to see him though. If anything to apologize. Christo was a monster. He knew that now. He could live with that choice. Jesse had been the best kind of man, loyal to his beliefs, until the day Christo and Dorothy had orchestrated the kidnapping.

Dorothy had said it was for the good of the cause. She had fed him a line of crap and he had snorted it all, like some string of baking soda that had been sold as cocaine. It had left a bad taste there, and he was going to make amends. On that thought he thrust of the door to the bar, determined to find his friend. It was his fault that Jesse's son was dead. No it was Alex and Mueller and Dorothy. They did it. Who was he kidding? They had all been in on it.

Jesse was sitting next to the wall, his hair ruffled and unkempt, leaning against the bar like so many other drunks in the place. He was very much aware of Christo's presence, and was not surprised a bit. He knew he'd come here looking for him. It was where he always came to get away from his troubles at Emerald Green. The camp wasn't that far away, maybe 15 miles, but this town was secluded, and very much not part of the Sanc kingdom. Dorothy had no interest here, and so it was perfect for Jesse.

He sat sipping his beer, waiting for the inevitable. He just didn't care anymore. Dorothy had killed his son no less than a month ago. That had been the only hope that had kept him going. Damn Alex and Mueller for carrying out her orders. Damn them both to hell. He knew nothing would bring his 

son back, and so now he waited for the end. Something in the back of his mind told him he should be worried about Christo, but that part of him was quietly getting as drunk as the rest of him.

Christo pulled up a stool beside him, sitting down quietly next to the man he had known for years.

"I'm sorry," he began. "I didn't know it would go this far when I involved you. This wasn't the way she said it would go. It shouldn't have cost you Danny's life. It's my fault."

Jesse could only shake his head. He put his arm around his 'friend' and pulled him close enough to hear his whispers. "You really think I give a shit what you have to say?" asked Jesse. "The bitch killed my son, and when I finish this glass, I'm going to attempt a run at her in my mobile suit."

"You know you won't make it," said Christo coldly.

"If that's what it takes, to make up for the harm and be with my son, then it's what I'm going to do."

"I just wanted to let you know that I still love you, despite all that's happened."

"How can you say that, Christo? He was your nephew for chrissakes! And you did nothing! You're almost a bigger monster than she is! I'm ashamed to think that I used to call you brother," spat Jesse.

"I am sorry. I am the monster in the family. I can't make up for that. I leave you then, brother. Have a nice life, what's left of it."

Christo got up and left the building, heading towards his ride. A tear fell down his cheek. Where had he gone wrong? Was this all that was left for him? An empty bar? A psychopathic monster in the bedroom and Gundams on the battlefield? He stopped for a minute. Where had that come from? 

The Gundams were gone, destroyed. He had been there. Christo crossed his arms and shivered. The rain that had fallen over the Sanc Kingdom not too long ago was heading this way, bringing with it a chill he didn't like. It was time to go back and be with Dorothy, the only woman he'd ever appreciated. He might just tell her about Jesse. It would do him good. Jesse was seeking death, so why not send it to him, express!

The monster would win the day after all.

***

"That was far too short, and far too aggressive to not have a cause behind it," said Noin, watching the Aries suits of Emerald Green retreat back to their lair. 

"I agree. How'd we fair?" asked Sally, taking stock of her mobile suit.

"We're missing three, no four of our squad. Including," she gasped then, turning her suit towards a pile of metal that had once been a mobile suit. "Colonel Une!" Sally and Lucretsia landed their suits next to what was left of the pilots' compartment. The other troops followed, but did not leave their suits, merely standing guard. They began the nigh-impossible task of opening the suit's badly dented hatch. It looked as if they had beaten the compartment after her suit had been torn apart. Through sheer luck, Lady Une was inside and breathing, although she was bent at an odd angle. Sally hesitated at the opening.

"I can't go in there. It could do more harm than good," said Sally, her voice wavering.

"Come on, you're a medic, Sally! This is right up your alley!" exclaimed Lucretsia, not really believing what she was hearing from her long time friend. They had rushed in and saved Quatre after all. How was this situation any different?

"No it's not," Sally retorted, looking rather pale. "I'm a medic which is basically about patching holes. You see the way her back is bent like that? It's broken! There's nothing I can do for her here, or any of us for that matter. We have to take her back to the hospital."

"Will she live, Sally?" asked Noin, a lump rising in her throat.

"She might, but she's never going to be able to walk again."

The two women made their way back to their mecha. Fifteen minutes later, after getting what was left of Une's suit together, the squad carried her back to the hospital.

***

Duo looked himself over in Trowa's mirror. It fit so well. The voices agreed. Heero's gun, Wufei's trench, Quatre's fine grooming, and Trowa's clown make-up. Only he wasn't a happy clown by any means. Relena had outdone herself here. He was reminded of the Goths of old, with their white faces and black tears. He was proud of himself. He carried the true visage of someone not to be trifled with. He turned this way and that, admiring Relena's talents. 

He looked at Relena and with a thick, rough, transylvanian accent said, "I vant to suck your blood."

She giggled a bit, then brought up a pen to add some finishing touches. "Now hold still, Shinigami. I don't want it to smudge. I don't think you want that either."  
"It doesn't have to be perfect, just scary." Duo blinked at her, grabbing a towel from the stand. He stood and walked to the center of the room and began to smear some of the make-up away.

"What're you doing?" asked a startled Relena.

Quickly, he dropped the towel and spun around to face her. "BOO!" he shouted.

She shrieked and jumped back a bit.

"Isn't this better?" asked Duo, grinning about his little prank.

Relena had to admit, it worked a lot better faded, than bright white with the black. In that moment, Relena realized how much she had needed them. It was like old times right now, when she'd get time with the boys, playing little games with them, doing odd jobs around the house, laying by the waterfall. She sighed, lowering her gaze to the floor. Duo put his finger under her chin, raising her head so that their eyes met.

"I can't make it all go away, but thank you for your help. There is still one more thing though," said Duo, a sly seductive smile creeping across his face.

"What's that?" asked Relena nervously.

Duo held up the key-thing, dangling it in front of her face. He closed his fist around it, backed up a bit and headed for the door.

__

Justice.

"Soon enough my good man," Duo spoke aloud. "Come little bird. To the bat cave!"

Duo ran down the halls, the crow and Relena in pursuit. They followed him on what appeared to be a random stroll through the old building. There was no real logic to it, only what appeared to be a young man having a grand old time wasting away some excess energy. Finally, after 5 minutes of unrelenting travel, Relena caught up to Duo and the bird. It had taken up a familiar perch on his shoulder as he stood in the doorway to a room she hadn't been in years. Shinigami walked in slowly, stealthily. The bird flew on ahead, perching on something dark and ominous in the room.

Relena couldn't quite make out what it was from the door, but Duo was running his hands across it. It all made Relena so nervous. 

"Yamamoto series V. Only 500 were ever built. Ceramic double rotor wheel system. Full armor to protect against stray blasts. Twin V-6 engine with optional afterburners and an intense stabilization system for those tight corners. With the afterburners you can get speeds of 400 miles an hour, without them it can still manage to get up to 60 miles an hour in four seconds. It was my favorite gift, from anyone. My own Black Death, my grim steed to carry me on my march for revenge." He paused to look up at Relena. "It was a gift from you. My very own badass cycle."

He hopped onto the bike, slapping the keycard into the ignition. It started easily, with a low whine, signifying that the afterburners were indeed active. The door to the garage opened ever so slowly, like the maw of a great whale that wasn't quite sure it should keep what it had eaten. He looked back and waved to his Queen. His lips moved, but she couldn't make out what he was saying. The bike took off in a roar of the engines and a burst of air and flame that whipped Relena's clothing about her. She ran to the door frame, seeing the fading bike as it headed towards a nearby town. The rain was slowing, lessening. Thins were looking up. Relena put a smile on her face as she headed out into the rain, back towards the hospital. It stayed with her as she entered the building and headed up the stairs to Quatre's room. 

"Hi Miss Relena! So good to see you! How's Duo?"

TO BE CONTINUED…


	7. Chapter 6

Mobile Suit _Gundam Wing  
_The Crow: Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Disclaimer:   
Gundam Wing and its characters are trademarked and copyright by Ban Dai. The Crow created by J.O. Barr. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to make money so do not distribute it with that purpose in mind!

Warning:   
This story contains violence, bad language, shonen ai, and references to the supernatural. Do not read if your parents won't let you go to a PG-13 movie!

Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Chapter Six "Breakdown"  
After Colony 210, April 

"Be that word our sign in parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting —   
"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!   
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!   
Leave my loneliness unbroken! — quit the bust above my door!   
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"   
Quoth the raven "Nevermore."  
-The Raven, Edgar Allen Poe 

Duo sat on his bike outside the Drunken Maid, waiting patiently in the shadows for his quarry to come outside. The crow had somehow known that Duo's first victim was inside and had directed him here. The voices had died down to just one again. It kept repeating in his mind over and over again like the others, this one more insistent than before. The voice wanted him to go inside, but he knew that would be impossible. Too many witnesses. He had to do this one quietly; especially somewhere where there wouldn't be people to ask questions. Dorothy was not to know about his presence. At least not yet. There would be a time, later.

_Justice._

"Soon," he said aloud to no one in particular. The crow had left his side and had taken up a perch over an alley, located next to the Drunken Maid. It sat overlooking the deserted area, waiting, watching. Duo could see everything that his little familiar could. It was interesting, catching the world from a bird's eye view. It had been almost difficult to drive his motorcycle, the crow flying overhead. It had been very confusing for Shinigami's mind, but he had compensated rather well. The crow was a tool now. A very useful tool indeed.

_Justice._

The voice was more insistent now. Duo tried to ignore it. 'In time' he tried to say, but it wouldn't let him finish.

**_Justice!_**

It was then that Duo saw Jessi leave the bar and head down the street towards the alley that the crow had been waiting in. Duo watched him turn down the alley before leaving his bike off to the side. His feet sounded softly against the wet of the road, the trenchcoat he wore blowing in the wind, his white and black facepaint catching the small glint of moonlight before the new moon. Jessi was almost to his hovercycle now. He wasn't entirely drunk, but he was inebriated enough not to notice the dark figure advancing on him from the shadows, a dark avenger out for justice.

Duo grabbed Jessi by the neck, throwing him face first into the wall. The brick of the building cut open a gash on Jessi's forehead, blood mixing with the trash on the ground. Duo picked Jessi up and looked into his eyes.

"I know who you are," said Duo, throwing up against the wall again, Jessi's back slapping hard against the unforgiving brick and mortar. Jessi cried out in pain and fell onto his hands and knees. He had no idea who this man was and had no idea why he was after him. He certainly wasn't a member of Emerald Green. He didn't recognize the voice or the attitude. Emerald Green was more elegant in their physical violence. Duo hauled him up from the ground once again, grabbing Jessi roughly by the scruff of his collar.

"I thought my first would be harder than this," said Duo, grinning wildly at the semi-conscious man in his clutches. Jessi looked hard at the man in black before him. The hair was the same, but the face, the face was covered in some kind of clown make-up.

"I know you," Jessi stammered, the blood from his forehead seeping into his eyes, making it harder for him to see. "They killed you though. You're Duo Maxwell. But you can't be here, you're dead!"

"That's right." Duo threw Jessi further into the alley, closer to the dead end. Jessi staggered to his feet. His forehead looked messy, his clothes tattered and bloody. The crow landed at Duo's feet, cawing at the man in front of them. "Justice will be served."

Duo went to strike Jessi again, but when he made contact with his face, Duo started into another flashback, but it was not his own. He saw a small boy, running in a park, playing with his father. A dark van pulled up, and then a man was stealing his son. No it wasn't his son. What was going on? He didn't have a son. Jessi did. Dorothy stood over him laughing, holding a gun on the boy who was taken from his father. Jessi crying out in anger, pain, frustration. This was not the way it should be.

Then a year ago, Jessi leaving the battle, watching as the Gundams were destroyed, not participating, Dorothy's anger and a bullet through flesh and bone, and after, sorrow and remorse.

This was not a cause of their deaths. Jessi had no part. There was no justice here. Duo was wrong; he needed to seek justice somewhere else, but where?

***

Relena couldn't believe what she was seeing. There was Quatre sitting up on his bed, looking at her. She hadn't made contact with those baby blues in over a year. A large smile crept over her face, a tear falling down her cheek. She ran over to the bed, throwing her arms around him, sobbing. She sobbed for him, for herself, for a year of pain, and for Lady Une, Sally, and Noin who couldn't be here to witness this. The Queen was overwhelmed. She stood back a bit, her hands resting on his shoulders, keeping him at arms length. She smiled again, choking away the tears.

Quatre lifted an arm, wiping away the tears. "It's all right Miss Relena. Don't cry, I'm all better now," said the Arabian knight. And somewhere deep down, Relena knew he was right. Things would be better now. Quatre was here, was awake. There was hope after all. She hugged him again, holding him close, still somewhat afraid that this was some dream and that he'd be in a coma again if she let go. He shocked her then, planting a kiss on her forehead. 

She backed away, cocking her head awkwardly as if she was posing a question.

"You looked as if you needed it, Miss Relena," he answered simply, reading her body language.

She blushed, hanging her head a bit, averting his gaze. She was embarrassed that he had read her so well. This was no way for her to be acting right now. Thinking quickly, she closed the door to the hallway. Relena pulled up a chair and sat next to Quatre, laying it all on the line for him. What had happened over the past year, Dorothy's continuing growth into other countries, the atrocities committed against her people, and more importantly the fate of the other Gundam Pilots.

"I know," said Quatre, when she started to tell him of their fate. "I don't know how, but Duo told me in a kiss. He's back you know." A smile formed on his lips.

"I've seen him. He took is bike. I don't know where he's gone off to, but I know he's out for revenge."

"Not just revenge Miss Relena. He's on several missions all rolled into one. Unfinished business with Dorothy and others, and everyone wants a chance to play."

"What do you mean Quatre?" asked Relena, puzzled by that last comment.

"What? Was I saying something?" asked Quatre, as if coming out of a daze.

A knock at the door broke Relena's train of thought, and she pulled it open just a crack to reveal a very distraught Sally Po.

"You need to come quickly," stammered Sally. "Une was hit, badly."

Relena forgot all about Quatre as she and Sally fled the scene to the emergency room where Lady Une was being cared for. He knew it would happen. It was all right. Things needed to be set in motion. Duo could not do this on his own, he needed his help. That was why he had come there that dark night. Quatre turned sideways and stood right off the bat. Something, somewhere in the back of his mind told him that he shouldn't be able to walk. It was quickly quieted by the need to make a phone call. A very urgent one. 

He plugged in some of his own personal access codes, hoping they'd still be active. The vidscreen activated, giving him a waiting signal to let him know he was still connecting. Howard appeared on the screen, looking rather shocked to see Quatre.

"Is that who I think it is? I'm not dead yet am I?"

"No, Howard. It is I. I'm fine. I need you expertise here," said Quatre warmly.

"You want me to fly up there from sunny California? What in the name of hell would you want me to do that for?" asked Howard.

"With the doctors dead, and my limited knowledge of the Gundams, you'd be the next obvious choice to help. Sandrock must be rebuilt. Can you meet me in the old hangar in 7 hours?"

"Seven Hours!" Howard shouted into the vidscreen. "That means I'll have to book a high speed flight in there! Very dangerous prospect indeed."

"As if that's ever stopped you before?" asked Quatre. "If you're still wearing those Bermuda shorts then you should have very little to fear my friend."

Howard smiled. "Seven hours it'll be then. Good to see you up and around Quatre."

***

Duo sat in the cold, damp alleyway, his arms resting on bent knees, hands dangling. Jessi was sitting next to him, the cut on his forehead, finally slowing. The crow circled above, not really understanding what was going on. The voice knew, and it had quieted. There were no more cries for 

justice over this one. Jessi had nothing to do with the boys' deaths the year before. He was as much a victim as any of the characters involved in this fiasco. Duo looked at him, his facepaint catching the light, startling Jessi a bit.

"I'm sorry," said Duo. "I had no idea."

"It's ok. I don't think anyone but Dorothy, Christo and myself knew. They took him, my son; they tortured him, they killed him. All because I wouldn't kill any of you. It only took me a few more months to find an opening and leave."

"You're risking a lot by staying here," said Duo, offering up advice Jessi already knew.

"Yeah, but where can I go? She'll just come after me. She's insane. All she cares about is hurting people and her stupid war. She thought I'd follow orders. I loved my son, but I wasn't about to kill you for him. I'm not a murderer. I was a soldier. I had honor and it got my son killed."

"You could go to the Sank Kingdom. Offer yourself as a hired hand. They need it."

"Why? They've got you don't they?" asked Jessi, looking at the dark figure before him. "You are Shinigami aren't you? A Gundam pilot?"

"Deathscythe Hell and I aren't on good terms." Duo shivered at that statement. He wasn't ready for the cockpit again. Too many bad memories there. He would have to conquer them sooner or later. He knew that much, but not today. "I have another mission. I'm after Dorothy, yes, but nothing more. I want the people that took us down. Anything else does not pertain to me. The others can handle their mess. It's not in my mission profile."

"Jesus, you've gone cold-hearted."

"Yeah, well being burned alive in a Gundam while your friends suffer and die all around you will do that to a man."

"I'm sorry." It was Jessi's turn to apologize. "Look, I'm going to head for the border. If you need any help just ask. I owe you that."

"Where is their Mobile Command Center?" asked Duo simply.

"You mean the Mobile Hangar? Noin and the others took out Command a few months ago. Dorothy had it rebuilt as a Mobile Suit Hangar. It's a big hulking thing on the border. About 10 miles east."

"Is the good Doctor still with them?" asked Duo, a bit of an edge in his voice.

"You mean Dr. Dutch? A.k.a. Dr. Dumbass?"

"That's the one."

"Yeah. He's trying to decipher the designs for the Serpent Mobile Dahls. It's what Dorothy thinks will give them an edge in the coming slaughter."

"Then I shall have to pay Dr. Jekkyl a visit," said Duo standing. He turned to look at Jessi. "Do you think he's ready for Mr. Hyde?" He smiled a wicked smile and walked across the street to where Black Death stood. Duo began getting the bike ready for transit. Ten miles wasn't a long haul, but it was going to have to be a quiet one. He had a special surprise for Dr. D.

"Hey Maxwell!" Jessi crossed the damp street carefully, avoiding an oncoming car. He walked up to Duo, his hand in his pockets trying to keep warm. "You really think you can take down Dorothy?"

"Without a doubt," Duo smiled. "The onna won't know what hit her."

Jessi nodded. He'd be heading back to the Sank Kingdom. He was going to join with Relena and crew after all.

Duo pulled his trench out behind him and quickly straddled the motorcycle. It started with the push of a button, it's engine humming slightly. Jessi wasn't even sure it was running. "If you go," began Duo, "go soon. Christo is almost back to the base. I don't know how I know this, but I do. And soon Dorothy will send someone for you."

"I only have a few things to get."

"Hn. Good luck Jessi." Duo flashed him a smile and tore off into the night, looking for the cure for what ailed him.

***

"The Doctor's say she won't be able to walk again," said Sally, sitting Relena down outside the observation room. A team of doctor's hurried around the fallen Une in a flurry of motion. Sally was saying something about internal injuries and the beating Une had taken at the hands of the EG soldiers. Relena took it in quietly, nodding her head that she understood when she was asked a question. When would it stop? How would it end for them? They couldn't hold out forever, not at this rate. Would Dorothy quit even if she surrendered? No. She wouldn't. She would keep going until there was nothing left of her kingdom. That's all she wanted. Relena's humiliation. Noin broke her train of thought.

"Are you all right Relena?" she asked, her hair ruffled, black marks on her face.

Relena shook her head no, then placed her head in her hands and let the tears flow. It wasn't right. Nothing was anymore. It was as if the world had been turned upside down and everyone was walking over her to get to where they could stand. She let it out. She didn't hold back this time. It was like the session with Quatre had been the rainfall that broke the dam. Noin and Sally rushed to comfort her. 

She shoved them back. Relena needed to do this alone. It was her breakdown. Let her have it in peace. She sat up, her eyes puffy. Relena wiped the tears away, a determined look coming over her face. Noin knew this look. She had seen it before, the night she had tried to kill Une nearly 16 years ago. It was not a look she was expecting, and she took a noticeable step away from the Queen. Relena looked to her two advisors, her protectors. She considered for a moment, thinking about how she was going to phrase her words.

"We are through taking this. Our time for this abuse has ended. There will be no more bloodshed. None. For every one of our people killed I want Dorothy to lose three. I've tried doing this peacefully, but I see no other recourse. Dorothy wants a war, we will give her one." Relena stood and walked to the window in the wall. She carefully pulled it open, the foggy rain-soaked air wafting in. Sally and Noin exchanged nervous glances. Relena began shouting out the window.

"You want a war? Is that it? Well I'll give you a war! You'll be sorry you ever thought about coming after this Peacecraft! I haven't given up like my brother and I will see you cast into the pits of hell where you belong!"

Sally and Noin were beside themselves. Was this really their Relena? Had some imposter replaced her? Did it matter? She wanted to fight back. Could they? They had some of the resources, but they were going to need a strong leader, and Une was out for awhile. Relena looked to them, studying their puzzled expressions.

"Yes, I know what I must sound like. She has pushed me, now I'm going to push back. To hell with my father's ideals. We'll deal with them after Dorothy is a smoking crater." She took several steps toward the observation glass. "If you want some of the battle plans, you'll need to go to Une's office. She and I had been discussing having to resort to this course of action. There should be something you can work with on her terminal."

"Yes, your highness," said Lucretsia, giving a small curtsey. Relena waved her off.

"I'm just Relena right now. You can refer to me as your Queen when I've earned it. Good luck you two."

Noin and Sally left in a state of disarray. They were now at war. It was a big step. It was so big a step that neither noticed a man with sandy blonde hair ducking around a corner and out the hospital doors. Quatre had some work to do of his own.

***

Christo walked up the sloping sides of the encampment. He hadn't liked this position in the first place, but this confirmed it. The fog and the mud were bad enough, but trying to climb a muddy hill in the fog was murder. He was going to have to get Dorothy to move camp. That was that. He slipped then, his hind foot shooting out form under him. Christo fell face first into the mud. He gathered up what dignity he had left and began to slowly get up when he met a very familiar leg, Dorothy's. He looked up into her disapproving face.

"If you're going to play in the mud, at least do it naked and let me watch," said Dorothy, not offering any help to her lover.

"Very funny. I bring news."

"You always bring me news. Is that what you think gets you laid?"

"No," he smiled then. "I have located my brother. I thought you would want to know where Jessi is?"

"Where is that traitorous scum?" spat Dorothy, a look of vengeance in her eyes.

"That old town about 10 miles west. He's skulking about there, thinking he could hide from you."

"You weren't going to tell me this. You've been here for a half an hour. You should have brought this to me earlier," said Dorothy in mock anger.

"I had a decision to make. Man or monster," he said.

"And what's your decision slave?" asked Dorothy, running a gloved finger along his throat.

'Monster, of course. He is there begging for his own death," said Christo, placing his hands about her waist. She slapped them away.

"No, you've been bad. Again. Now you will be punished accordingly. Meet me in my quarters. I must talk to Alex and Mueller first. Don't disappoint me again, Christo." 

He began walking away from Dorothy, then he fell into a sprint as he neared the new command outpost. This would be fun. Dorothy headed towards Alex and Mueller's barracks. It was about time they got some leave, especially with a town only 10 miles west of them. Yes indeed. She had a few errands for them there, but nothing that those two could not handle. 

TO BE CONTINUED…


	8. Chapter 7

Mobile Suit _Gundam Wing  
_The Crow: Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Disclaimer:   
Gundam Wing and its characters are trademarked and copyright by Ban Dai. The Crow created by J.O. Barr. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to make money so do not distribute it with that purpose in mind!

Warning:   
This story contains violence, bad language, shonen ai, and references to the supernatural. Do not read if your parents won't let you go to a PG-13 movie!

Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Chapter Seven "Nevermore"  
After Colony 210, April 

I'm your boogieman  
That's what I am  
I'm here to do whatever I can  
Be it early mornin', late afternoon  
Or at midnight, it's never too soon

To wanna please you   
To wanna please you  
To wanna do it all, all for you  
I wanna be your, be your rubber ball  
I wanna be the one, ya love most of all - oh yeah

I'm your boogieman, boogieman (Turn me on)  
I'm your boogieman, boogieman (Do what you want)  
I'm your boogieman, boogieman (Turn me on)  
I'm your boogieman, boogieman (Do what you want)  
- Rob Zombie, "I'm Your Boogieman"

Dorothy lay next to the sleeping form of Christo. Their latest session had been rather violent and exciting. He was sporting several welts, bruises and had been bleeding. Dorothy was feeling very good indeed. It didn't compare though. She was thinking back to the battle, when Une went down. She shivered. That had been exquisite. She needed more, but even the great destroyer needed sleep. But there were things to attend to first. She got up from the bed, slowly pulling on her silky black robe. It hung open as she glided across the room to her console, exposing herself, though she didn't care. Who was around to see?

As she sat down, she thought of who she'd be speaking with and closed her robe tighter. Alex and Mueller made her nervous, but they were the right tools for this job. Jessi had to be dealt with. She would wait to talk with that all but useless Doctor in the morning. She set the comm panel up and opened a direct link to their comm units. It beeped only twice before Alex's face popped up on screen. 

"My Queen," he mocked adding a fake bow for effect.

"If I wanted to be teased Alex I would not have beaten Christo into a comatose state," she snapped. "Now where are you and have you located the turncoat yet?"

"Are you kidding? We even found a good ole construction site to crucify him from. Lots of neat little toys in there. We're just waiting for him to pop his head out of the rabbit hole, and then, instant stew!"

"Have I ever told you that you really turn me on, Alex?" 

"Often and loudly, madam. I made the offer," Alex winked at her. 

"Just get to work. I want pictures and I want you both back by dawn tomorrow, that gives you 16 hours."

"We aim to please," said Alex, cutting off his comm.

Dorothy smiled, rising quietly from her chair; she sauntered across the metal floor, the cold in the room making her nipples react. She chuckled slightly. Christo was going to have to wake up soon. It wouldn't do to be all excited in the morning. 

***

"You want me to do what with this mess?" asked a confused Howard, standing in front of the piles of twisted metal. Quatre had led Howard down to the Gundam hangar, and they had stopped in front of what had used to be Sandrock. "I know it means a lot to you Quatre, but just look at it! The only thing that's left that is really usable is the pilot's compartment and that's about as much slag as the rest of it."

"I realize that Howard." Quatre looked at him pleadingly. "This is the only thing I have left though. Everything else was taken from me, but I want my Sandrock back. Before Duo came to Earth, the doctor that built his Gundam said he could count on you for help. Can I count on you as well Howard?"

"You can count on me. I'm gonna need to bring in my team if you want this built in a month," said Howard, admitting he was good, but not a miracle worker.

"That's fine. I'll contact my sisters, let them know I'm alive. They'll have some things shipped here for you. Just request anything you want from them, they can get it. One other thing, as desperate as we are for parts, do not take anything from Deathscythe Hell."

"But why?" asked Howard. "It would make things much easier."

"Because, we all have our roles to play out in this little saga. And Deathscythe Hell was not put back together to become a parts car. It has its role as well. Promise me Howard?"

'I promise you Quatre," said Howard. "If you feel that way about it there has to be a reason for it."

The rain had started again. It was coming into the hangar through the doors, but only a little. The drizzle seemed to catch Quatre's eye and he headed for the doors. He swung them wide, their hinges creaking loudly as they swung open to welcome Quatre to the outdoors. The rain pelted his clothes. He had stopped upstairs to get out his old flight suit and the black accentuated the droplets that hit it, making him glisten in the poor lighting of the dreary morning. He swung his arms back, letting the rain hit his face. It felt so wonderful to be up and around again, not trapped in some shell in a hospital. Unable to wake. He had much in store for the world.

He smiled and turned back to Howard, who had moved to the massive hangar doors. "Are you ok?" asked Howard. 

"Never better. Just get Sandrock together. I'll see you in a few days to check up on your progress." Quatre walked past him, his blonde hair bouncing with him.

"Quatre, Where are you going?" asked Howard, still very confused.

"I've got to find some friends. If Relena comes by, tell her I'll be back. Rashid is waiting for me."

"But Rashid is in Egypt!"

"I know," said Quatre. "Believe me, I know."

***

Relena sat in the lounge alone, her tear-streaked face finally softening a bit. She was still angry and upset, but Une would need her solid when they moved her. She sniffled a bit and rubbed under her nose. This was not the time. Relena stood and walked quietly to the window. It had started storming again. The weather fit her mood. There was no sun and it was a bright sunny day, just above the clouds anyway. They were so dark and gray. 

"Duo," she muttered under her breath. "Why won't you help me?" She sighed. She would have to look in on Quatre. He was awake now, she would need him and maybe he would need her. A hopeful smile spread across her face as she headed for the stairs and up to Quatre's room. She ran to the door and forced it wide, only to find an empty room. Relena ran inside and looked around, but even the bathroom was empty. She headed out into the corridor and made her way down to the nurse's desk.

"Was Quatre transferred?" asked Relena.

"Um.. no Miss Relena," answered the desk clerk. She and Relena had many long talks while she was trying to stay awake in the first few days of Quatre's coma. "Let me check." The clerk made a few phone calls, and finally she passed on the news, Quatre had checked himself out.

"How?" asked Relena in disbelief. 

"Apparently he got approval from someone," answered the clerk. "That's the only way."

"Thank you," said Relena distractedly as she walked away. She had to find Sally and Noin. She was going to have to spend some time with Deathscythe and do a little soul searching. Something darker was going on here, and maybe Duo's Gundam could tell her a few things that she didn't understand on her own.

***

_Justice.  
Innocence.  
Life.  
Victory.  
Death._

The mantra had returned in full force. Duo had driven the miles to get here, sitting quietly in front of the Mobile Suit Hangar. The giant monstrosity of a land vehicle stood almost 50 ft tall. It was made out of some type of Gundanium armor, although it appeared to Duo to be weaker than the armor of the Gundams' themselves. It had a few anti-suit weapons, mainly missile racks and a few guns, but nothing terribly offensive. The MSH was segmented and nearly a football field long, housing over half of Emerald Green's Mobile Suits and boasting a large repair/construction bay. It was built over several chassis involving tank treads and a massive armored cockpit in front. All along it's sides were doors for the release of the suits. It was here that Duo sought his next prey, Dr. D. 

The crow had led him here. It had been an easy target to spot, and although D had little to do with the pilots' demise, he was directly involved with the construction of EG's new Mobile Suits. Duo's eyes narrowed as he walked around the side of the MSH, looking for a door inside. It had been easy to slip into Dorothy's camp in the rain. The dark clouds had all but covered him, making him nearly invisible. He had waited until the storm had rolled in. It was almost as if it were night now, the perfect time for some mayhem.

There was little-to-no activity here, but Duo realized that they must be out celebrating their supposed victory over Relena. 

_Justice_.

"I know, I'm workin' on it!" spat Duo, cursing as he realized he'd said that out loud. The last thing he needed now was to be found out by guards. That would take all the fun out of his current mission. It was then that things looked brighter, an open door with light pouring forth.

_Innocence._

"He'll never help to take another life again," Duo breathed out quietly. He slipped inside the door, noting the arrogance of Dorothy, not posting a guard here of all places. The crow flew inside, soaring through the immense space in the hangar, seeking out the good Doctor. The God of Death slowly pushed the door closed behind him. The metal groaned lightly. He quickly realized that all the other doors were closed as well. This was going to be very easy.

_Life._

All the Mobile suits lined up against the wall looked like lifeless guards, all waiting for their moment in battle. The rain pelted off the side of the MSH, creating a dull roar inside. Duo walked quietly, not realizing he was being watched from unseen eyes. The crow landed several yards away from Duo, squawking at several suits along one wall. He turned to go look at them, throwing his trench out behind him like a cape. The lights inside the building highlighted the make-up on his face. Duo's face twisted in anger as he looked to what the crow was showing him. They were Serpent Mobile Suits, the ones that they had all fought so hard to destroy so long ago in the Eve War. They stood there, all in a row mocking him.

_Victory._

Duo could not believe his eyes. Dorothy had gotten the plans for these somewhere. It wasn't right. He knew she'd unleash these on the Sanc Kingdom, and while this wasn't part of his mission, it had been 14 years ago. He wasn't going to let Dorothy unleash these on the world. Not now, not ever.

_Death._

The unseen eyes in the corner were attached to a large man, a fat man. He had heard Duo and the bird come in. He knew that Dorothy had hired a bunch of freaks to work for her, but this guy didn't fit the bill. He had come in here looking like some Halloween reject and now he was eyeing his prize, his creations, the Serpent armor! Oh no, not after all the work it had taken him to get the original plans! His chubby hand reached inside his doctor's shirt and pulled out a gun. He aimed it quickly at Duo, the bullet flying forth, ripping into Duo's left thigh and out the other side. The shot had been loud, and he knew it gave away his position, but this guy didn't have any weapons, or so Dr. D thought.

Duo lay on the floor clutching at his leg. He had only let out one small scream when the bullet had gone through. The pain had been intense. As he saw the Doctor make his move the crow had made another, flying up into the Doctor's face, pecking at his eyes. In his surprise he'd lost his gun, sent scattering across the floor by his flailing. Duo smiled, standing up on his wounded leg. There was no blood, no life giving fluid escaping, for Duo had become the God of Death. The dead did not bleed, however this undead man could cause men to bleed. He smiled and advanced on Dr. D as the crow flew off.

"Hiya round boy!" shouted Duo loudly, "We're gonna have us a few laughs!" Duo lifted the large man off the ground, throwing him into a recessed area that Duo could only guess was a lab. Dr. D landed against one of the many glass cases as it shattered under the weight against it, shards flying everywhere. Duo came into the lab, a sneer on his face. Dr. D could tell this clown was no happy camper. Duo picked him up again by his jacket front, holding him off the ground by several inches.

"Just what does the D in your name stand for?" asked Duo.

"What?" Said the doctor, nervously. This guy was insane! He was going to have to get to a phone and call security.

"I asked you what the letter in your name stands for. Don't you speak English? It is the standard language for this province you know!" shouted Duo, Making it a point to shake his victim every few syllables.

"It stands for D, d, Dutch…" stammered the Doctor.

"Dutch? What kind of a name is that for a doctor anyway?" asked Duo, tossing Dutch to the side. He landed on the floor in a heap. Dutch scrambled around for a minute, then pulled out a gun from under a desk. He aimed at Duo and pulled the trigger. Duo leapt out of the way and disappeared after performing a flip in midair. Dutch got up and began looking around for the bird or the insane clown. He leaned over the workstation of his lab trying to peer into the semi-lit hangar beyond. Suddenly the clown boy was hanging upside down from some piping over head. 

"Dr. Death, I'm afraid you're not paying attention!" Duo bashed the Doctor in the face with some metal piping, causing the fat man to fall backwards onto a computer station, blood pouring from his broken nose. Duo grasped the bars and did a somersault to the floor. He mumbled something under his breath about thanking Trowa, then advanced onto the scientist again. Dutch pulled the gun up to fire on Duo again, but Duo knocked the gun away as if it were useless. 

"Why are you doing this?" asked Dutch as Duo slammed him down onto a table.

"Because," answered Duo, "filth like you should no be allowed to walk around on the earth." Duo pulled out some rope and began tying the doctor's hands up, and then tied them to the table. Duo gave him a sharp whack to the back of his legs with the pipe, almost sending the doctor to the floor, but his hands caught him, keeping him up on the table.

"Ya know, when Dorothy finds out about this, she's going to come after you!" shouted Dutch. 

"I sincerely hope so," hissed Duo as he walked away, into the hangar.

_Innocence._

"Yes, they must be protected," answered Duo to the voice only he could hear.

Duo leapt up onto the gantry that extended the full length of the hangar, just above the shoulders of the mobile suits. There was a terminal there that he tapped into. It didn't take too long to hack into the systems of each suit and have them start to vent the fuel each carried for their thrusters. The explosion would be colorful to say the least.

_Victory._

Duo smiled at that thought. He climbed down the ladder; stopped halfway to place his hands on either side and slid down. He smiled as he landed. 'Just like a Fire Marshall' he thought. 'Only I'm about to start a very big fire.' He strode into the lab again, the fumes starting to seep into the hangar. 

Duo located a box of shells for the immense gatling cannons the serpent armor carried. He cracked it open, pulling out several handfuls of shells. He carried them over to where Dutch was tied up. He singled one out and held it up for the estranged Doctor to see.

"Every one of these, is a life." He tossed one into the doctor's face. Dutch closed his eyes reflexively as it hit his forehead and fell to the floor with a tinkling sound. "These are a life you helped destroy." Duo tossed several more at the doctor before grabbing the box and dumping it on him, shells falling everywhere. "Can you feel their pain yet? No? Well perhaps my little raven over there can help me decide what to do with you?"

The crow squawked excitedly by an open and operating laptop on the counter. Duo's trench flowed out behind him as he approached, the crow flying back to land near Dutch's face. Something about the laptop was vaguely familiar. There was a design of the Serpent armor on the screen. Some improvements had been made, but overall it was the same design. The crow squawked at Dutch, then flew back over to a counter along the wall nearby the portable computer.

Duo's smile faded as he recognized the laptop. The crow looked up at him expectantly, blinked a few times, then flew off, letting a few droppings land on Dutch as it passed overhead. Duo put his hand on either side. It certainly looked like Heero's old laptop. But that had been lost in the fire, or had it? Duo braced himself. If this was Heero's laptop, this was not going to be fun. He gently tapped a few keys in, typing in his own code phrase that Heero had installed for him, Shinigami in love. 

Duo fell to the floor. The flashes had returned. Duo saw himself and Heero sharing a stolen kiss together in the hallway, the laptop under Heero's arm, their time in their bedroom as Duo had drug Heero from the god-awful mailing list into their bed. The laptop that had been present over so many repairs to their rebuilt Gundams. Duo saw Heero typing love letters to himself on it. Those sweet words that Heero could never seem to utter in person. Tears flowed down Duo's face as he saw the fire the night before their deaths, fat chunky hands closing about this item of technology that had been so sacred to Heero. Dutch's hands. That's why Duo couldn't find it before Relena had gotten so involved with making up his hair and face. This fat bastard had taken it! 

Duo stood, wiping the tears from his face. He closed the laptop up and set it on the far corner. He again picked up the pipe in his hands. Only one voice spoke to him now.

_Death!_

Duo walked across the room and began hitting Dutch across his legs with the pipe. He hit his arms, hearing bones crack. He beat Dutch until the man was nothing more than a quivering mass, crying for release. Duo yanked the fat man's hair, lifting his head of the table. He looked Dutch in the eye. It was then he smelled urine. Dutch had wet himself. Duo realized where the Serpent designs had come from. Dutch hadn't recreated the Serpent armor, he had stolen the scans from Heero's laptop. He let the man's head flop while Duo cut Dutch's bonds and let him fall to the floor. 

Shinigami dropped to one knee over the grotesque sack of flesh that had once been a detestable man. He was crying, whimpering, begging for Duo to kill him. Duo just smiled at him, letting the grin sink in. "I'm going to let you live."

A look of utter horror crossed over Dutch's face. "No, you can't let her get to me! Please! Kill me!"

"You're going to deliver a message for me," said Duo, looking Dutch directly in the eye. There was no light there, no life. Dutch was terrified. Who was this man? "I want you to tell them that Shinigami is coming for them. Soon. I won't be too long." Duo smiled again, leaping onto the table so that he would slide across. On his way over the side Duo snatched up Heero's laptop, slinging it over one shoulder as he had seen Heero do so many times.

The crow flew to the door they had come in before. It mysteriously slid open. Duo didn't ask. He knew it opened for him and the bird. He sniffed the air. The hangar was full of the propellant now. It would explode like a roman candle, and all it needed was a single spark. The crow flew outside into the rain, already on it's way, looking for the next target. It was then that Dutch decided to get the last word in. He pushed himself up onto the table, minding his broken arm and ribs. 

"Hey! When they find out about you, you painted freak, they're going to come to erase your sorry ass!" shouted Dutch across the hangar to Duo.

Duo turned, pulling Heero's pistol out. He smiled at Dutch, cold and calculating. "Is that thruster propellant I smell?"

Dutch sniffed, and realized that the whole place was full of the fumes. This was going to be bad. He dove under the table, looking wildly around for the escape hatch he had built into the floor.

Duo smiled, took a few steps back and pulled the trigger, sending an explosive shell into the MSH. It impacted off the armor of one of the new Serpent suits, exploding and sending shrapnel everywhere. The gas that had been exiting the suit's for over fifteen minutes now erupted into big ball of fire the rushed out of the door past Duo and into the storm. The sound of wrenching metal permeated the air as the hanger began to bubble up from the heat. The whole hangar went up quickly, a large ball of twisted metal and flame roaring into the sky. Above, the clouds parted just a little bit, to let some sunlight down on the avenging angel that had come back for them all.

_Justice.  
Innocence.  
Life.  
Victory.  
Death._

Duo smiled.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	9. Chapter 8

Mobile Suit _Gundam Wing  
_The Crow: Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Disclaimer:   
Gundam Wing and its characters are trademarked and copyright by Ban Dai. The Crow created by J.O. Barr. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to make money so do not distribute it with that purpose in mind!

Warning:   
This story contains violence, bad language, shonen ai, and references to the supernatural. Do not read if your parents won't let you go to a PG-13 movie!

Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Chapter Eight "A Clown Cometh on Broken Wings"  
After Colony 210, April 

The crow circled high and far away from the fires burning in the Emerald Green encampment. Two of its prey had escaped the dark avenger this past night. He was to eliminate them after the fat man, but they weren't home. How disappointing. It spread wide its wings, looking for signs of civilization. A small town on the horizon caught its eye.

Checking in on its charge, the black bird saw him sneaking in the darkness to get to his motorcycle, Black Death. It banked away, heading for the town. Plenty of time to look for the pair, usually one followed the other, almost lovers, always friends. They'd be a lovely second course to the mayhem this day, Alex and Mueller. 

With the wind up, the black messenger made its way to the town. Lampposts illuminated the foggy streets, rain pouring down once again. Perfect camouflage for the human it had brought back with it. Its dark eyes pierced through the darkness and after a fruitless search, the crow found Duo's new playmates sending images of the two to the twice-born Shinigami, bringer of death, destroyer of worlds.

***

Duo had gotten to Black Death and had begun loading it up with his latest goodies when the vision hit him. The bird was sending him information on Alex and Mueller. It had located them and there would never be a better time to get them.

_Justice.  
Life.  
Innocence.  
Victory.  
Death.  
_

Shinigami nodded slightly, hurriedly packing the bike until he got to Heero's laptop, placing it carefully into the saddle-box on the side. He would have to be careful with this one. Heero had big plans for the laptop, and Duo would see them carried through. The crow had continued sending a live feed of imagery to him, but when he saw them dragging a body, that of Jessi, Duo knew it couldn't wait. 

His thoughts inadvertently drifted to the little boy, Jessi's little boy being taken, beaten, murdered by Dorothy and those two monsters. Duo kept seeing the boy being slain, and then Wufei after. How many others had there been? Alex and Mueller stood out in his mind, holding up bloody instruments of death, laughing over the hundreds that had died in their hands.

_Justice._

"No," Duo said, leaping onto the bike. "Not another drop of blood on their hands. I won't let that happen. There will be justice."

Black Death roared to life under Duo's hands and sped off to stop the monster's from killing again.

***

Dorothy paced furiously alongside the smoldering remains of the Mobile Suit Carrier. She clenched and unclenched her fists, the flames openly mocking her. The rain had taken care of much of the blaze but some of it refused to die out. The rain soaked her hair, matting it to her head, her flight suit repelling some, but not all of the incoming water. Yet another indignity she had to deal with today.

"General Catalonia," shouted Davis, running up and performing a salute to her commander.

Dorothy waved her off. Normally she'd revel in the attention that Davis had to offer, but she was not in the mood. "No time for formalities now Davis. What happened here, other than the obvious?"

Davis thought for a minute, as if choosing her next words carefully, then with a shrug of her shoulders went ahead as if she'd accepted she was about to go running onto a sword. "We found the good doctor crawling around and sobbing on the ground. He'd been beaten and cut up and I had him removed from the scene to the infirmary."

Dorothy leapt up. "Let's go. I have some questions for that fat bastard," Dorothy said, pulling out her sword from behind her back. She carried it in its sheath, but there was no doubt in anyone's mind she wasn't keeping it there. Davis gave her a bemused look. Dorothy simply smiled back. "I have a feeling I won't like his answers. His usefulness is at an end I think. Call it a dominatrix intuition, my pet. I'm going to take what he owes us out of his worthless hide."

Dorothy and her second-in-command strode into the small travelling infirmary, doctors and nurses scattering about, tending to the few wounded in the explosion. Davis directed her 'mistress' to a nearby room as she took up a guard position outside the door. General Catalonia waltzed in like a wet cat emerging from the bathtub. The nurse sensed her mood and fled the room. Dorothy was not amused. Dutch lay sleeping in the bed as she took a chair turned it backwards, sitting so her legs straddled either side of the back. Removing her sword from its sheath, she let it rest on the back of the chair and waited patiently for the "doctor" to wake up.

After about twenty minutes, he came to, jumping out of his skin when he saw Dorothy sitting in front of him. "Don't scare me like that! I've been through enough today, I don't need a heart attack on top of it!"

"Shut up Dutch," ordered Dorothy. "I want to know what caused the explosion. They tell me you were in there. Well over half of my forces are gone, including most of the new Serpent Mobile Suits. I want answers fat boy."

She emphasized her statement by poking him with her sword. He squirmed a bit, eyeing the sharp blade edging even closer to something vital.

"It was some weirdo freak painted up like a dead clown. He got inside the hangar and I thought I could take him. He wasn't that tall, average build with this long dark hair. And he had a bird with him, a big black fucking thing that tried to take a dump on me."

"A bird?" Dorothy snorted. "A boy and his bird."

"He told me to tell you guys that death was coming for you, whatever the hell that means. And he rode off with Yuy's laptop. He set the explosion up, using thruster fuel and some kind of exploding shell."

"Oh?" asked Dorothy, not taking her eyes off him for a second. "Can you continue your work without the laptop? I thought you made back-ups."

Dutch nodded his head. "I did, but they relied on Yuy's encryption codes. We need the laptop. It has the plans for the Serpents on it as well as the upgrade I had planned. They won't be able to really outmaneuver the White Taurus suits without the upgrade. The Royal Guard would maintain the speed edge on you at least. There was information on the Gundams there as well."

"You incompetent fool!" shouted Dorothy, whipping her chair across the room as she stood up. "Do you realize what you've done? Now Relena will have an edge over us!" She butted him in the face with the handle of the sword, putting his head into the wall hard.

"Not only are you clumsy and stupid, but you are a fool Dutch Hopple! Your weakness disgusts me. I won't have it in my army any longer!"

Dorothy stabbed downward with her sword, twisting it into the fat man's belly. Pulling upwards with ease she cut him open up to his ribcage, leaving the sword standing as a monument amongst the gore. He whimpered a bit, gurgling blood from his mouth. Davis came in all smiles when she heard Dorothy's shout. She wanted to see the show and was disappointed to already find him dying. 

He spat up some blood, hitting Dorothy's cheek in the process. She reached over and grabbed Davis' firearm, putting two bullets in his side. He gurgled some more, almost in defiance of Dorothy's attempt to kill him.

"Oh for fuck's sake die!" she yelled, her icy cold demeanor broken in a fit of rage as she fired the gun twice more. The body stopped twitching finally, and Dutch lay dead, his message sinking slowly into the general's mind. 

"I take it that Dutch outlived his usefulness?" Davis asked, her understatement meant to lighten the mood.

"Throw it out with the trash," Dorothy said, handing over the sidearm. She went and retrieved the sword, wiping it clean on the bed sheets. "Be on the lookout for some guy painted like a dead clown with a big black bird. I want him eliminated from the equation. I will not have anything screwing this up for us."

***  


Relena headed down the dark steps to the hangar below the somewhat deserted manor. Many ghosts haunted those halls, not all of them entirely dead. So she had the ghosts, her thoughts and her small flashlight to keep her company. Noin and Sally Po hadn't thought it was a good idea for her to be off alone, but she assured them she'd be fine. Everything was fine. She hadn't told them Quatre had disappeared, just that she needed some time alone with her thoughts, which hadn't been far from the truth. She needed a few minutes alone with Deathscythe. It was the only thing she had left of their relationship, all three of them. Wing had been unsalvageable, but Deathscythe had been mostly intact. Duo had always been the glue that held the three of them together, even if she had always been an outsider, Duo always tried to include her when he could, not out of pity she had hoped, but they had loved as well. Duo didn't seem to remember her though, only as a friend, or a rival. 

She hoped that she might be able to talk to Duo through Deathscythe. She didn't know how, but she needed to let Duo know she still cared, even if he didn't remember. Dorothy would pay a high price indeed. But why wasn't Duo back to help them? It didn't make any sense. Deathscythe would know what to do. Relena stopped, realized what she was thinking and shook her head. Here she was giving the Gundam sentience again. It was a machine. It needed a pilot. It was not alive. So why was she so compelled to talk to it, to share her thoughts and feelings with it? Being so open to something that would just listen and not judge her was the easy explanation. There was something much larger at work here. She resumed her descent down the stairs. She really needed to talk with the Gundam.

Voices from down below broke Relena from her thoughts. Was Quatre down there? At first she quickened her pace, then fear got the better of her and made her stop and think. What if it was one of Dorothy's monsters, or a raider? She pulled her sidearm, the one Noin had insisted she wear after she had taken the course on firearm safety and operation. Hitting the target was much easier now after some training. Une and Noin teased her quite a bit concerning that stray shot that very nearly hit a pillar almost 16 years ago. Relena was never amused by it, but she had used it to learn. She never missed anymore.

Slowly, Relena inched her way out of the small alcove, weapon drawn at the ready. A familiar voice made her nearly drop the custom designed weapon. 

"Just take the eye sensor and put it over there. We'll do a test run on it later."

It was Howard! Holstering her gun, Relena ran out and glomped the unsuspecting Howard who almost fell to the floor. He very quickly regained his composure when he saw who it was.

"Howard," she cried, snuggling up to the man who had acted as her grandfather so many years ago. He returned the hug, holding the woman in his arms tightly. It had been nearly 5 years since the two had seen each other.

"Hello Relena," he said, holding her at arm's reach. "And how have you been?"

"Don't you mean where? You're the one who disappeared, although it looks to me like you've kept busy," said Relena, a touch of sarcasm in her voice. "How long has it been since you at least e-mailed me? 6, no 7 months!"

"I'm sorry child," he said sincerely. "My work is important."

Relena suddenly realized he had his full crew here. Why was he here? What were they working on the Gundam grave for? "What are you doing?" she managed to blurt out, among the many questions running through her mind.

"Following instructions. Quatre is having me reconstruct Sandrock. I'm using what was left here as starting materials. Can't manufacture Gundanium on Earth but you can mold it, and anything we can't mold can be replaced with Titanium and Titanium casing. It worked for the Tallgeese, it should still be applicable here." 

"Howard, this is me you're talking to. You know I never understood any of the technical…wait, you saw Quatre?" she asked, looking around, seeing only Howard's technicians. She was hoping for a Maguanac, anything that would signify Quatre's return. She was worried about him and it showed.

"He's left. Said he had some things to take care of. I'd tell you more, but Quatre swore me to secrecy."

"And here I thought you'd given up that cloak and dagger game with me." Relena sighed and headed towards Deathscythe.

"What are you up to, young lady?" asked Howard. "I thought you'd want to talk."

She turned to him. "I will talk to you later Howard, right now I need to commune with the dead."

***

Duo had found Alex and Mueller easily. He had stashed Black Death in the same alleyway as before, then simply followed the crow to the old superstructure of a high-rise. Some of it had been rebuilt to use as a watchtower during the Oz revolution nearly 15 years before, and then it was abandoned. It had caught fire several times due to vandals and only recently a movement to make it into a monument had been started. Construction equipment littered the ground, the grant money out for now. It hadn't been a small task but the small town had been confident that it could rebuild it on its meager funds. Here it sat. A monument to the last 15 years of hardship. Duo entered the rusty doors, knowing for certain that this would be Alex and Mueller's' tomb.

_Justice.  
Innocence.  
Life.  
Victory.  
Death_.

The interior of the forgotten tower was as nasty as the outside, its roof was still intact, but that was the only thing. Holes had been broken along the sides and permeated the floors leading upwards. Not a good place to die in at all. Duo would save Jessi. His life would not end here.

_Innocence.  
Life._

The floor Alex and Mueller had chosen was the only intact or relatively intact one in the whole building. Being the most important part of the tower, the top had been reinforced to withstand more, the only real blemish smoke damage and a rounded hole in the middle of the floor. A single blood trail marred the entrance, leading into the room. It was small, but could be fatal if not treated. Jessi was not the bleeding type. The crow flew into the large room, seeking out Shinigami's new victims. In an unused, slightly soiled corner, Mueller kicked at the prone body of Jessi on the floor. Alex stood to the other side, his blonde hair matted down from the rain egged Mueller to kick him harder.

Duo could see it all through the eyes of his familiar. His vision flashed and he knew he was seeing an exaggerated vision of the past, but it fueled him even more. Alex and Mueller laughing on a battlefield, they stand over the broken bodies of Wufei and Quatre, each holding the head of the Gundam they had claimed. Wufei had thought Jessi had been involved, he hadn't realized it was Alex and Mueller. Duo knew this was right and just. Quatre's heart reached out to Duo as well, his warmth and love warming him, encouraging him to the revenge and steps he'd need to take.

_Justice.  
Life._

He walked calmly and with purpose towards the unsuspecting murderers. His only weapon was Heero's pistol that he had used at the suit hangar, but he knew it wouldn't be necessary. These two deserved the beating they were about to receive, and he didn't want to waste two perfectly good bullets.

"Gentlemen," Duo called out across the room. "The game you're playing at seems quite unfair as you're holding all the cards. I think you need another player. Allow Shinigami to cut the deck!"

Duo swung at Mueller's head, his first jab missed the second snapping Mueller's head back, two teeth flying from his mouth. Mueller slumped to the floor next to Jessi's unconscious body, blood flowing from his nose and mouth.

Alex leapt into it with several repeating kicks to Duo's side, knocking him to the floor. Alex stood gloating as he took out his survival knife. He didn't know who this painted freak was, be he'd give him a smile to remember, forever.

As he leaned over Duo, Shinigami swept his legs out, knocking Alex onto his back. Duo leapt up onto his feet in one swift motion. Striding over to Alex, he shot out his hands, grabbing Alex's collar. Duo hefted him up, spun around and slammed him against a wall.

"Hiya pretty boy!" spat Duo, shaking Alex so his head bounced roughly off the wooden planks. "I don't suppose you remember this face, do you?"

"Let me go you insane freak!" shouted Alex, struggling to free himself from Duo's deadly grip.

"You don't do you?" Duo almost sounded amused. He held Alex up with one hand; using a strength he never had before and pulled his braid around with his free hand. Alex's face paled as he realized who this 'freak' was.

"No. You're dead! All of you were dead! We killed you! Dorothy said you were dead!"

"Aww," teased Duo. "I guess you've strayed too far from the Emerald City, eh scarecrow?" He tossed Alex away. His body hit a nearby pillar with a sickening thud, music to Duo's vengeful ears. Two cracked ribs and a broken arm. Duo smiled. "The fun ahs just begun!"

Shinigami turned to the corner where Jessi lay only to find his other target, Mueller, had fled. He began looking around for the fish-bowl haired murderer, when he was hit from behind, forcing him over the edge of the gaping maw of the floor. Through the darkness, Duo could see the ground rushing up at him. Even though he could heal himself, he knew this one would be painful and take some time, during which Alex and Mueller would kill Jessi and escape. He had screwed up big time.

_Justice.  
Victory!_

White light enveloped Duo, covering him in a warmth he had only known once before, Heero's arms. The onrushing ground was gone; nothing was there anymore. It didn't matter to him. Nothing mattered here. This was where Heero was. Duo saw the angel of light before him, his outstretched hand reaching for Duo's own. Duo accepted the gesture, Heero's blinding light covering him like a blanket, the warmth rushing over him yet again. He never wanted to leave here again. Heero smiled, spreading wide his white angelic wings. They flared behind him much like they had on his Gundam. How had he known? Tears welled in Duo's eyes. 

"Heero," Duo cried. Heero quieted Duo with a finger to his lips. Warm, beautiful feelings and memories flowed through Duo. He saw their first kiss as a couple, a random day at the beach, their spacewalk in orbit over Mars, their wedding day and Heero's gentle sway on the dance floor. Shinigami smiled.

"I have a gift for you Duo," said Heero, hi lips never moving. The light began to fade.

"No!" shouted Duo. "Not yet! I don't want to go!" 

"There is a time and place for your return, koi, but it is not yet here. Take my gift and fly for me, dark avenger."

Heero faded out, the light going with him. Duo was back in the building, it's gross decayed interior surrounding him once again. A gentle, recurring wind was passing over him, almost like a breeze. He looked to see where the source was and found two large, bat-like wings holding him aloft over the pit. Not twisted or ugly, these shivered in the light, catching it all, yet still hiding in the darkness. Perfect for his role here.

_Victory.  
Life.  
Death.  
Innocence.  
Justice._

Tears flowed down Duo's cheeks as he launched himself upwards. Heero had given him such a beautiful gift, one he would use well! He flew upwards, gaining speed towards the opening and his revenge.

Mueller had held Alex up in a cradle fashion as they made their way to the door. Alex limped along, his ribs aching with each step, arm hanging limply at his side. Duo had under-estimated Alex's lifespan. Mueller recognized signs of internal bleeding. Alex would need medical attention very soon indeed. The crow at patiently in a window, knowing that neither man would leave. It was their time to go. Neither man saw the bird, or heard the wind rushing form Duo's wings as he emerged from the hole in the floor. He was quick to propel himself forward and toward the two men attempting escape.

Duo slammed Mueller aside, snatching the whimpering Alex from him. Mueller went to attack the dark clown freak, but could only stare in astonishment as he watched Duo fly away from him, carrying his partner to the very pit he had tried to send Duo to hell in. Duo's wings caught the light well, glittering in the light filtering through the boards there. They seemed to cast an irresistible spell that he could not look away from, but like so many other thins were gone just as quickly. A muffled cry from below broke Mueller from his dumbstruck state and he rushed over to try and assist Alex. His confidence in his abilities were soon broken once again as the winged man flew up from the pit, like a demon emerging from the fiery pits of hell. Duo landed gracefully on the floor, pulling himself down to one knee as he folded the wings in close to his back. He looked up, the fire in his eyes forcing Mueller to take a few steps back from their sheer intensity. He stood up and began pacing himself around Mueller. 

"You stay away from me," Mueller sputtered, drawing a blade. "I'm warning you." He waved his weapon at Duo to emphasize his point.

Duo put his arms behind him, softly laughing to himself and pacing around Mueller as if it was a stroll through the park. "You both seem to love your knives, don't you? I taught your friend a rather quick lesson as to why he shouldn't play with then. I guess I'll have to teach you that very same lesson. Do you remember me, Mueller? Alex did."

"You shut up, you fucking freak!" Mueller shouted, losing his cool as he kept the knife between himself and the avenging angel. Duo simply continued his stroll.

"Mueller, of all the people. And I thought you kept a running tally. At least that's what you bragged to Wufei."

Mental images flashed between the two men, Nataku lying nearly powerless, Wufei attempting to retaliate. Alex and Mueller in their Mobile Suits gloating, taunting; their suits' fists hammering away at the weakened Gundanium armor. Wufei shuddered around the inside, head bleeding, dying as the cockpit caved in on him, his beloved Nataku betraying him; dying without pride, without honor, without justice.

_Justice._

Realization dawned on Mueller as if he'd been hit in the face with a brick. The violet eyes, the hair, the well-worn black outfit befitting a priest and the black wings of Shinigami reborn. "Duo Maxwell! You're Duo Maxwell! But Dorothy killed you! You're dead!"

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Duo moved lightning quick, his hands flying out in a classic martial arts maneuver, knocking Mueller backwards as the wind escaped from his chest. He hadn't even seen Duo move. Duo didn't have moves like this. Mueller had seen the file, read it, studied it. The only Gundam pilot with any real martial arts training had been Wufei. Even then he had learned it later in life, but he had been damn good while he was in the Preventers, before Dorothy rose up with her little band. It was almost like Duo was channeling Wufei somehow. This terrified him even more.

Mueller concentrated hard, following Duo's moves the best he could, sliding behind pillars, blocking kicks. He managed a few times to strike out with his knife, but it did no good. Shinigami was just too quick. Duo's answer to the slashes was a series of punches and kicks that served to remind him he had gotten to close. Finally, Mueller made contact, slicing open Duo's abdomen. Duo looked down in shock as a small trickle of blood flowed from the open wound. He was about to celebrate when Shinigami laughed heartily, the laugh of a man unafraid of death. The gash that would have put another man down for good had begun to seal itself, pulling closing, healing. Duo let out a small cheer, the looked up at his would-be assailant. Holding up his right hand, he waved his index finger indicating that Mueller shouldn't have done that. A dark look descended upon Duo's face.

_Justice._

Duo whipped up the trenchcoat he had dropped on the floor when he had entered the room, twisting it around like a whip. He shot it out at Mueller, the trench wrapping around his arm. Duo yanked sharply, a loud snapping noise emitting form Mueller's now broken arm. He screamed out, dropping his blade to the floor. Mueller knew he had lost all chance of getting out by force, he'd need to think his way out of this one, just like Noin had taught him. 

Duo smiled. "Would you like to join your friend, Mueller? There will be much justice this day my friend." He spread wide his wings, looking very much like the Gundam he had piloted. He launched himself up into the air, the higher ceiling affording him a lot of room to move. Not having released Mueller's arm from his coat, he was yanked into the air along with Duo, screaming as his arm became even more crooked, the splintered bones grinding against each other, threatening to tear out of his skin. Duo dropped suddenly, falling into the open floor, Mueller trailing behind, his screams fading into the darkness of the pit.

He stopped two floors down, planting Mueller on a ledge with no means of escape other than a swan dive. Duo began pulling the concealed blades from Mueller's person, each good quality and designed for throwing, much like Alex's.

"What are you going to do?" asked Mueller, tears of pain streaming from his face. Duo had released his mangled arm, which hung limply at his side.

"I'm going to finish the job Zechs didn't all those years ago. I would ask how you made it out of your mobile suits, but I don't care. I'm going to give you the sentence you deserve, monster," spat Duo, his wings flapping calmly in the darkness, keeping him aloft. Mueller expected him to grow fangs and drink his blood, and yet he sensed an opening here.

"You're the monster Maxwell!" yelled Mueller, gently holding his broken arm.

"I'm the monster you should have been Mueller! Sent up from hell to eliminate murderous bastards like you," Duo said, toying with the knives he had confiscated. "Give my regards to the real Shinigami when you meet him. I'm simply his messenger." The first knife left Duo's hand, pinning Mueller's left arm up to the boards; the second knife pinned his leg. Mueller cried out for it to stop, but Duo threw two more. Mueller was being held up by the blades in a mock imitation of Christ, Duo's little gift to crucifixion. Mueller struggled against the knives that were buried so deep in wood and flesh trying to free himself.

"It's a long drop to hell, Mueller. Glad to see you're so anxious to get there. So much like you're friend." Duo flew to the side, giving Mueller a view of Alex's body hanging limply from rotting boards, also hung like Mueller by his own blades. But Alex was dead already, a symbol carved into his head, the Preventer symbol.

"Alex! Oh god! Alex No!" cried Mueller. "You sick fuck! I don't deserve this!"

"Oh really?" Duo got up in Mueller's face. "Tell that to the families you murdered, to the innocent, to the weak you destroyed in a nameless cause simply because you got your rocks off doing it! How many are there Mueller? How many?" Duo flitted back, eyeing Mueller with a sullen expression. "You aren't a god-fearing man, are you Mueller? I don't suppose you are. Then you don't fear me, do you? Death?"

"Alex talked me into it, I swear!" Mueller pleaded for his life. "He did it. He corrupted my soul!"

Duo shook his head. He knew the lies, the deceit, the murder and chaos this man promoted. He saw Mueller standing over fields of victims that had died at his hands. And now Mueller sought to blame it on his best friend and co-conspirator. Duo could only laugh as he threw the knife that ended Mueller's life, his skull stuck against the wall. Duo's laughter turned to tears, as pain burned his very soul. Was he a monster as Mueller had claimed? Was he as bad as these two hanging dead by his hands? Duo wiped them from his eyes. No time for these questions now.

Shinigami flew over to Mueller, removing the last knife he had thrown, carving an identical Preventer symbol in his forehead. Duo wiped the knife clean, staring at his reflection in this knife, this murderer's knife, hoping to see himself reflected in it, a true reflection. But there was none. He saw only his face, the one he had lived with for so many years. There was no truth here. Duo dropped the knife, watching it fall down the shaft and sink into the soft earth below.

"Victims," Duo muttered. "Aren't we all?"

***

Dorothy walked around the camp. The fire had finally been extinguishes, along with most of her advantage. Only six of the Serpent Mobile Suits had survived the blast and the blaze. That was a very serious problem. Even if her Aries were more advanced, they were still no real match for a skilled pilot in a Taurus suit. Serpents had better armor, more speed, everything they needed to take down the defensive Sank Kingdom, and then the world. It had almost succeeded before when that Marimeia bitch had tried it. Dorothy had told her it was too soon to act when she left, but she would hear none of it. And so Dorothy had left. 

The thought of Relena cowering before her made her smile, but it faded quickly as she thought of the clown from hell that had severely hampered her hostile takeover bid. Some freak with long hair out for revenge. It had an air of familiarity to it, but who would want revenge now? She had so many years of broken promises and dead bodies. Why now? She thought of her enemies. Over the years she had had many, but there were no surviving ones other than in the Sank Kingdom. She found a chair nearby and sat with her thoughts.

Alex and Mueller were supposed to keep in touch with her, and now those two had gone AWOL. Not like them at all. Dorothy caught sight of Davis and waved her over.

"Yes, general?" asked her 2nd lieutenant.

"Alex and Mueller have been gone for to long, and that freak that Dutch was babbling about is still out there somewhere. I've tried raising them on the comm, but they're not responding which is not like them."  
"Understood. I shall keep an eye open. I take it you know where they ran off to?"

"Ten miles from here. Little town in the middle of nowhere. They were going to take care of Christo's old friend, Jessi. They'll have found an abandoned building. They like their little games, but be careful. I need you here by my side in the coming battle, Davis."

She nodded, giving Dorothy a casual salute as she made her way to the transportation department. Davis would find them for Dorothy, and would return she was sure of it. Then she could finally show up that bastard Christo and have Dorothy for herself. She would be returning for sure.

***

An ornithopter lay on its side in the desert, footsteps being covered by the small sandstorm that was brewing. It had run out of fuel towards the end of its flight and had made a less that graceful landing in the dune. Ten hours before its pilot had been arranging to have Sandrock rebuilt.

Following the path he knew by heart, compass and sky, Quatre Rebarba Winner pulled the cloak he wore tighter about him. It was only another fifteen miles to the Maguanac base, but it was going to be a hard trek for the Arabian man. Quatre adjusted his goggles, resealing them against his face, locking the blinding sand out from his blue eyes.

Once again, people depended on him. Duo had a mission, a reason to be here, a purpose to fulfill. Quatre had one as well, but it was muddled and needed refinement in order to be more noble. Relena could help him with that, he knew. But he needed a small army to help take Dorothy and her troops on, one the Sank Kingdom could afford to lose if it came down to that. Quatre smiled as he remembered the forty men of the noble Maguanac Core. He had ordered them away when things had gotten bad for the Sank Kingdom a year ago. He knew they'd be needed at home to defend their families and Quatre had thought the Gundams would have been enough to take on Dorothy. How wrong he had been in his assumptions.

So lost in his thoughts, Quatre didn't notice the men surrounding him through the storm, arming weapons, all locked on him. Several surprised him, leaping up from the sand before him, weapons drawn.

"You are not welcome here stranger," said the taller one, his voice commanding much authority. "Go back to your craft and call for help. You will find only death in any other direction of this desert."

"It is good to see you again as well, Rashid," said Quatre smiling, pulling back on the hood of his cloak.

"Master Quatre!" Rashid rushed up lifting Quatre off the ground, the other Maguanacs celebrating as well. Yes, the future was looking brighter indeed.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	10. Chapter 9

Mobile Suit _Gundam Wing  
_The Crow: Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Disclaimer:   
Gundam Wing and its characters are trademarked and copyright by Ban Dai. The Crow created by J.O. Barr. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to make money so do not distribute it with that purpose in mind!

Warning:   
This story contains violence, bad language, shonen ai, and references to the supernatural. Do not read if your parents won't let you go to a PG-13 movie!

Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Chapter Nine "Old Wounds, Dead Enemies"  
After Colony 210, April 

Take these broken wings  
and learn to fly again  
learn to live so free  
And when we hear the voices sing  
the book of love will open up and let us in  
-"Broken Wings" - Mr. Mister

Duo sat in his window, his old window. He had curled up his wings wrapped around him like an old comforting blanket. "These wings," he mumbled out loud, "a gift or a curse?" He stretched one out a bit, admiring it in the moonlight. He'd been here awhile admiring the curves, the power and more importantly the pain they represented. He smiled as he remembered where he'd seen something like them before, on his television. It had been an older show called Gargoyles.

A tear fell from his cheek, one of many that day. Was he a monster now? He remembered not all the gargoyles on that show had been good. Was he just like them, those people out there who murdered, raped, and pillaged entire communities? It was something that broke him up inside. He was a monster, a lonely monster that killed with impunity. The voices had stopped talking to him earlier in the day, just after he'd dropped Jessi off at the hospital. It seemed his bird had left him as well. Yes, he was just a lonely murderous monster indeed.

Shinigami was so wrapped up in his emotions and thoughts he didn't hear the soft footfalls at the door. Relena stood quietly surveying the scene in Duo and Heero's old room. If it had been a mess before, it was positively destroyed now. The bed was torn, walls ripped open, dressers smashed. Duo had done it, she knew that much. Something was wrong with him, very wrong. Her eyes drifted up above the headboard to the portrait of the two pilots, still untouched. She smiled at the memory of the day she'd had it commissioned. It faded quickly as she caught sight of Duo once again. 

Relena stepped across the threshold, moving in on Duo's pain hoping that she could help heal him somehow. She had been his crutch before and right now Relena could think of no better time that he'd need someone to lean on. The wings surprised her, but as she looked she found it fit his new avenging persona. They both frightened and excited her as she approached Duo, her arm outstretched.

"Don't touch me," Duo said quietly still clutching at his knees. His gaze never fell from the window as she pulled her hand back. It was as if she had touched a burning pan.

"How did you…" began Relena.

"You're not as quiet as you think. I'm the stealthy one, remember?"

"Duo, I need to talk with you," she said quietly.

"No. You don't," spat Duo. "Go away, Relena. Leave me alone. You have a kingdom to guard against evil, remember?"

"I can't go away, Duo," Relena said quietly. She moved towards him ever so slowly. She knew he was hurting and she could help. Something about this whole mess had gone wrong and Shinigami was faltering. Heero wouldn't have wanted it this way.

"What's the matter, Relena? Need to get a good look at the monster?" Duo stood up quickly; spreading his newly acquired wings wide. He looked even more imposing now. She was reminded then of an angry clown, the part of Duo's visage that represented Trowa. He carried others, she knew, but at the moment this one was the most in her face. "Are you satisfied?" spat Duo. "Come see Duo, the freak back from beyond the grave, the monster! Come see the dancing freak! The killer of killers!" He was shouting at her now, tears flowing down his cheeks. 

Relena stared long and hard into his eyes, those violet, hard eyes and let fly with a slap that knocked him back hard. Duo looked up at Relena as if she'd grown two heads. His hand caressed his cheek, more out of reflex than actual pain. 

"Is that what this," she gestured about the trashed room, "is all about? I thought you were stronger than this Duo. Shinigami is not this weak." Relena sat down next to the former Gundam pilot. He scurried back a bit, still in a state of shock. He'd meant to scare her away, but instead she'd got mad and slapped him. Relena of all people had slapped him! 

"You are not a monster, Duo. You are a tool, an instrument of justice, a harbinger of a death that has been a long time in coming. You are a statement of what we should all be fighting for," said Relena, leaning back until she rested against the bed. "Where in the world did you get it in your head that you're a monster? Is it the wings?" 

"Mueller," Duo mumbled under his breath. "He said I was a monster. I am. Look at what I'm doing. It's just like them. I've become them. A monster." 

"You are not! Duo, may I remind you of the things they've done? They killed you and your friends, they've slaughtered countless innocents, and have been trying to destroy the only real dream of peace humanity has left! Who's the monster Duo? Do you walk the earth in a mobile suit crushing women and children under the heel of a 10-ton machine? I've seen the monsters first-hand Duo! You are not one of them." Relena reached out and caressed Duo's cheek, wiping stray tears away. 

Duo couldn't figure her out. Relena was making sense, but why did she sound so different, so sure of herself. Had one year really done so much for her? This was not the Relena he remembered. She moved then, grabbing his arm to get him to face her up close. The constant contact formed a link between the two, much as the objects had before, but it was more intense, more personal. They began sharing images, no memories of their pasts. 

Duo could she Relena, Heero and himself along the beach, their trip to the outer colonies to rally support, their first night together as a loving trio, learning each other's bodies intimately. It had been good. How could Duo have forgotten? It had not been so long ago. Many things had been taken from Duo for him to re-discover on his own. He wasn't meant to know. It was to make his job as the undead vigilante easier. This method had failed in a big way. Duo knew there was more, bit the link was fading, and with it more of the answers he sought. Perhaps it was best this way. 

__

Life. 

Duo held Relena tighter as the tears came for both of them. They pulled each other closer, so tight that it almost hurt. Together they cried, releasing years of tension, pain and loss in a moment of grief. Relena looked up to Duo and they shared a kiss, one of longing and love. 

"I love you, Duo," breathed Relena. "I loved you both so much." 

"I know Relena, and I'm sorry." 

The two shared each other again one final time in that room, and that afternoon. It was to be their last moment of joy, denied so long ago.

***

The hospital had no idea what had happened to the man that had been left in front of the hospital. One of the orderlies had been outside smoking a cigarette when and 'angel' had left him at the man's feet. After putting the hysterical orderly under heavy sedation, they only had a name for the beaten man, Jessi. 

His wounds cleaned and dressed, and his bones reset, the doctors had moved him upstairs to the special cases ward. For the moment he would have to share a room. Lady Une was surprised when they wheeled his unconscious body in. There was an aura about him that reminded her of Treize, something in his face, or maybe the way he slept. He did have a nice body, despite the bandages. Une blushed when one of the nurses caught her looking. 

She walked over to check on the paralyzed Une, checking her readouts and tucking in the blankets around the military commander. It was only going to be a few short weeks and she would be released from the hospital, but they'd never be able to get her legs to function again. 

"Who is he?" asked Une, generally curious about her new roommate. 

"We don't know. All we have is a name and a list of injuries. He is physically fine, but he won't awaken. Something is keeping him happy in a dream world I guess. That's why he's up here. We'll be keeping a close eye on him. You should get some sleep," urged the nurse quietly. They had learned early in Une's stay here that she was not up to listening to what doctor's or nurse's had to say. 

Lady Une smiled at the nurse knowingly. She had no intention of sleeping. Une just wished they'd give her a wheelchair so she could get to the bathroom on her own instead of having to use the pan. "What is his name?" asked the former Oz Colonel. 

"Jessi," said the nurse, starting to pull the room divider across. The hurt look from Une got her though and she left it where it was. On her way out she turned off the light. "Goodnight milady. Pleasant dreams."  


***

Davis had taken her time staking out the tower. There was some creaking noises emanating from the old structure, but very little of anything else. Alex and Mueller must have gagged the guy they were going to torture. That was the only feasible explanation. She would have had to just from the mouth on the guy. He was always raving about what they had done to his son. Jessi was so pathetic. He deserved the cold death that Dorothy had planned for him. 

After an hour or so of cooling her heels outside, Davis decided that Mueller and Alex had had enough fun for the day. As she went inside, the smell of a fresh kill entered her nostrils, exciting her. There was something about the metallic odor of blood that just couldn't be packaged any other way. She'd always been able to smell blood; it had been both a gift and a curse to her. Davis often wondered if it was that way for the others in Dorothy's band as well. She had never worked up the courage to ask. A light dripping sound hit her ears. Pulling her sidearm as a precaution, Davis edged her way around the light coming through the center of the roundish building. The drops were coming down from opposing sides, pools of deep red collecting where the drops fell. Definitely blood. Inching closer, Dorothy's second in command peeked around the side of the ceiling. Two bodies hung crucified against the walls, their lifeblood dripping down into the puddles she had found. She gasped as her eyes adjusted to the lighting and she recognized the bodies of Alex and Mueller. 

"Shit," cursed Davis, holstering her sidearm. Just what they needed now, some kind of vigilante killer out for revenge. She pulled off her comm unit as she made her way up the stairs. Dorothy was going to throw an absolute fit.

***

Deep into the night, long after Duo and Relena had finished, the voices had returned along with Duo's crow. They drove Duo from his old room and Relena's sleeping form and out across the spaceport. For a brief moment, Duo thought he saw his Skull Cowboy by the entrance to the underground launch bays, but then he was gone. The crow launched itself from Duo's shoulders and flew through the open door, expecting Shinigami to follow. Relena had been roused by Duo's leave, and had quickly pulled on her clothes, following him out into the veil of night. She stayed a safe distance away, not entirely sure what Duo was up to, and not sure if she'd be permitted to get involved. 

_Innocence.   
Life.   
Justice.   
Victory.   
Death. _

Duo followed the crow, still not entirely sure where he was going, his wings pulled tightly to his body. They reflected the moonlight as he ducked inside. The launch bay was familiar in design, based off the same one he'd used nearly sixteen years before to send himself and Deathscythe to the stars. Duo wondered where Quatre was now. He was almost sure he'd need his help, but Duo also knew the blonde man had important matters to attend to. Their paths would cross again

He sat down at the control console outside one of the AEV shuttles in the bay and began entering a flight path to the L347 cluster. There were people there he needed to deliver a message to, and other people that needed to be remembered. So involved with his work that Duo again failed to notice Relena's approach and presence until she started speaking to him. 

"Running away again I see," she said getting his attention. She didn't want him to go. It had been a long lonely year without Duo and Heero, and now that he remembered their long relationship he was getting ready to leave again. "Damn you, Duo! Talk to me!" 

He looked up towards the AEV shuttle, its running lights kicking on. "It's too late for that now Relena. I'm running on borrowed time, and there isn't much left of that for me here. Events have started that are beyond my control and some things have priority over others." 

"So I'm not a priority to you? You bastard! You're starting to sound just like Heero when I first met him. You know that?" Relena regretted her words even as they escaped her mouth. Tears filled her eyes as she sat down in the chair next to Shinigami. "I… I'm sorry, Duo. I know what you've been through. I didn't mean it." 

"Yes you did, Relena," said Duo quietly, still prepping the shuttle. "You're not one to mince words and if I sound like Heero it's because he is a part of me. All of the others are. I'm here fulfilling the mission we all agreed upon before." He turned from the console and placed his hands over hers. 

"I don't understand," sobbed Relena. "I thought you had come back to be with us, to right the wrongs. After what we did…" 

"I did come back for you in a way. I wanted to give you something special. What we just shared was from me. That was my contribution to this whole thing. I am dead, Relena. Dead and gone. I can't be your friend or lover anymore. It's not possible. I am an avenging angel, a wraith if you will. I have become that which I sought after all those years, Shinigami. I'm after those who deserve the special brand of justice and pain, a kind that only the Gundam boys could dish out. 

"It's not your fault, so please stop blaming yourself. You have to move on now. You're stronger than you think. I know you made a pact to take on Dorothy, but you should know by now that is my fight. Defend your kingdom and seek out Quatre. He will help you." 

"Bur Quatre disappeared," sputtered Relena trying to overcome her fears and pain. She clutched at Duo's hand, still afraid to let go. 

"He'll be back. Trust me," Duo smiled, warming Relena's heart. "I need something from you now." 

"Anything for you, Shinigami," said Relena, wiping away her tears. 

"I'm going to show you how to operate the launch bay."  


***

Dorothy had called an emergency meeting of her staff, gathering them together for what she hoped was the last time that they would have to discuss the fate of the Sank Kingdom. Christo sat to her left looking rather pleased with himself, Davis to her right looking a bit rattled after taking the bodies of Alex and Mueller down. 

The General was clearly agitated and upset, pacing at one end of the table. "We've met a turning point in this little conflict gentlemen and ladies. This was has gotten nasty and I want it over and done with. Our people have been taken down and it is an unacceptable and inexcusable loss. These troops did not die in glorious combat, but were taken down by some vigilante killer who has a thing for the Preventers." Dorothy tossed photos of the crucified members of their team onto the table for all to see. Enlarged on one was a carving into the forehead of the unmistakable Preventer symbol. "This is all I have to go on, but who else would be up to it? Relena is playing a sick game that has gone beyond what I find acceptable. We dropped the ball somewhere and I want it back. I want this to be fun. You will all be having fun, and in so doing I will be having my own fun." Dorothy smiled at the thought of her earlier session in the war room.

She slammed her hands down on the table to make sure she had everyone's attention again. "I want each and every one of you to be able to look me in the eye again. I want you all to yell 'Hell yeah!' when I ask you 'Are we having fun or what?' Are you with me?"

A round of applause and cheers erupted from the table.

"Excellent. Now here's my plan for the spaceport. We start at dawn…"

TO BE CONTINUED…


	11. Chapter 10

Mobile Suit _Gundam Wing  
_The Crow: Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Disclaimer:   
Gundam Wing and its characters are trademarked and copyright by Ban Dai. The Crow created by J.O. Barr. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to make money so do not distribute it with that purpose in mind!

Warning:   
This story contains violence, bad language, shonen ai, and references to the supernatural. Do not read if your parents won't let you go to a PG-13 movie!

Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Chapter Ten "To Space Once Again"  
After Colony 210, April 

And I don't want you  
With a flick of my knife  
I can change your life  
There's nothing you can do  
Cause I'm a problem child  
- "Problem Child" by AC/DC

The warning klaxons broke through the quiet morning air that had settled over the Sank Kingdom's Spaceport. Explosions, screams and the roar of thrusters could be heard over the wind. This is what Dorothy thrived on, what she lived for. She could feel her battle arousal soar as she fired up the engines of her new Serpent Mobile Suit. 

"Christo. Lead in on the right flank, Davis, you the left. I want them surrounded and out-gunned, and with what I see here, Relena's spaceport is going to have a very short life," quipped General Catalonia as she soared up over her troops. This was going to be an easy battle to win, and would soon mark the end of the Sank Kingdom, and the start of her real expansion into other world nations.

From her HUD she could see her mobile suits fan out, the older Aries Advanced being outpaced by the Serpent armor. They'd catch up but it was a vulnerability she'd have to take into account in future hostile takeovers. She knew if her troops stuck to their training and the plan the losses would be minimal, at least on her side. Dorothy smiled at that thought and pushed her suit a little harder, the taste of battle on her lips.

***

Sally and Noin ordered their crew to separate and take Dorothy's on in close combat. The fewer long-range weapons fired, the less damage the spaceport received. The spaceport was critical if they ever hoped to receive any help from the colonies. Sally engaged her thrusters and took her Taurus airborne. The rising sun obscured her from line-of-sight fire allowing her a moment to pull her beam saber and drop from above. The poor pilot didn't know what hit him as the saber ripped through the Serpent suit's main chassis causing the power plant to rupture. One of Emerald Green's mobile suits were down, a small battalion left to destroy.

"You know this is hopeless, Noin," announced Sally over a closed communications channel. 

"We're out-numbered four-to-one," said Noin, bringing her cannon to bear on the invading troops. "Not friendly odds to be sure, but we have orders from Relena to defend this spaceport until that shuttle launches. No exceptions."

"So we stay. I can't think of a better way to go than by your side, Lucrezia."

"Same here. Just watch your back and we'll make it. You still owe me a back rub."

The invading army got close enough to the spaceport perimeter for the hidden auto-guns to kick on and begin raining their liquid death upon the Serpent armor. The heated plasma cut into Dorothy's ranks, but were son met by return fire that cut their effectiveness short.

"Time to go back to work, Sally," Noin muttered under her breath.

***

The ground shook beneath Relena again as she sat at the controls, waiting for Duo's cue to start up the launch sequence. Dust and other particles dropped from the ceiling as she heard a mobile suit land above. Relena activated her comm on a rotating frequency to monitor the battle. It wasn't going well for the Sank Kingdom. The perimeter guns had been little more than a nuisance to the invading troops and they were getting so close to the area. There was so little time.

"Duo, I know you've thought it over, but please reconsider this," she shouted across the hangar. "We could really use you and Deathscythe here! You have exceptional piloting skills! You were one of the best I'd ever seen!"

Duo paused in his prep of the AEV shuttle. "You know I can't do that, Relena. There are things that nee to be done," Shinigami pointed skyward, "up there."

"What could possibly be more important than this? Your friends are dying out there, Duo! Our friends and the only family we've got!"

"Trust me, Relena," smiled Duo. "An angel will intervene and make it right while I'm away. I will be back to finish this."

"But you're here! Right now," yelled Relena, frustrated and not quite ready to trust in faith at the moment. She could only shake her head as she watched him get back to work. 

"You always were an insufferable son of a bitch, Duo Maxwell."

***

Something exploded next to Noin's mobile suit temporarily blinding her before the suit's screens could compensate. She cursed under her breath as she realized yet another of her forces had bit the dust. Dorothy's troops had managed to surround them all, pushing them closer together and making them easier targets. Noin absently wished for Une's leadership in this. She and Sally should have seen the flanks closing in before this. Now it was too late. 

Sally popped up on the comm viewer. "This isn't working, Noin."

"Tell me something I don't know," Noin said, pulling her rifle around to fire four quick bursts on an advancing Serpent suit. The first two destroyed the enemy suit, the other two finding a home in the building in the line of fire behind it. "Damn."

"Noin, I want to tell you something," said Sally quietly as she was obviously having troubles of her own.

"Save it, Sally," Noin said cutting her off sharply. "You can tell me after we make it through this."

"That's not an option and you know it. Noin, these last few years we've gotten close, very close. I don't want to lose you Lucrezia, I… I love you." An explosion to the side of Sally's Mobile Suit lit up her face in the monitor, her eyes looking for something, anything but her lover. 

Noin was shocked. They'd shared so much together and Sally would wait until now to say something as profound as this. She smiled up into the monitor, her eyes glowing ever so brightly. "I love you, too." Noin's face grew stern. "Just quit calling me Lucrezia in combat! It's a mouthful!"

***

Dorothy smiled wide as she watched Relena's forces pull back. It was only a matter of time before they were all eliminated and Emerald Green was victorious. She couldn't wait until this hurdle was clear and she'd be an Empress, with the power to destroy or kill anyone or anything just because she willed it. If any colony or country opposed her it would be eliminated. Her vision would become true. She wouldn't fail like Treize had. She had the power now and it would not slip through her fingers as it had the others in Romafeller fifteen years ago.

Davis and Christo had advanced far ahead, taking out a number of the defending units as they went. This was a wholesale slaughter and Dorothy was glad to let Relena foot the bill. She was beginning to feel the familiar yearnings she'd acted on from the battles before when an explosion rocked her mobile suit off its feet.

"What the hell," cursed Dorothy as she righted her suit and checked her monitors. It was then she saw forty familiar shapes dropping from the sky. "No, it can't be," she muttered out loud. Dorothy realized that her external line was open when she got a gruff answer back.

"It can. It is. The Maguanac Core is back."

***

Rashid let loose with a maelstrom of fire from his Vulcan cannon, the stream of heated metal racing towards Dorothy's forces. He pulled the chute on his mobile suit and dropped the remaining distance to the spaceport floor. 

"Remember Maguanacs," started Rashid.

"We know," interjected Abdul. "Nobody dies until the area is secure."

"Let's not forget about me," came a familiar voice from the three descending planes above.

"Of course not Master Quatre," said Abdul. "That's a given!"

***

"How are we doing?" asked Duo over the shuttle's intercom. "I imagine things just got better."

"Yes," stammered Relena as she watched the cameras outside. "Quatre just showed up with the…wait, Duo, how'd you know? Your comm wasn't on until just now."

"I could feel it," answered Duo as he tapped his helmet. "Up here. And a little birdie told me." Duo winked at Relena through the transparent aluminum of the viewport. She smiled as she reached for the launch controls. 

"Back in two months?" asked Relena.

"At most two. It all depends on how they take the message I'm delivering. Remember Relena, Quatre isn't one to take lightly. If you need any help, ask him. He is an excellent strategist. He's a lot stronger than you think." Shinigami finished up the pre-flight check.

"I'll take it under advisement, Duo. Have a safe flight."

Relena plugged in the launch sequence and stood back behind the launch shield as the shuttle raced through the launch bay and out into the open air. She hoped Duo's gamble worked as she watched it disappear into the clouds. Her attention turned to the monitors as she saw Dorothy's forcing making a strategic and somewhat unhealthy retreat.

"I'll be seeing you again soon," Relena said pointing her finger at Dorothy's mobile suit. "And it won't be behind one of these protective bubbles either." She moved out of the bubble and made for the airfield to talk with the blonde Arabian knight. Perhaps Relena would be able to find a few things for Quatre to help with, including mobile suit operations. She was definitely going to be busy while Shinigami was away.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	12. Chapter 11

Mobile Suit _Gundam Wing  
_The Crow: Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Disclaimer:   
Gundam Wing and its characters are trademarked and copyright by Ban Dai. The Crow created by J.O. Barr. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to make money so do not distribute it with that purpose in mind!

Warning:   
This story contains violence, bad language, shonen ai, and references to the supernatural. Do not read if your parents won't let you go to a PG-13 movie!

Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Chapter Eleven "Dream a Little Dream"  
After Colony 210, May

Duo lay back in the park of the colony, it's enormous walls spread out before him, the ceiling far above. He could feel its rotation as he lay there, holding him down by sheer force of will. He could defy it if he chose, it was artificial gravity, and not that strong. An artificial breeze rolled across him, blowing his braid about his head. This was a brief rest, a well-earned one at that, but Duo knew there was more work to be done. A light mist formed above the park's ground, slithering across the ground to cover him with its fine fingers. Duo's senses became muddled and dulled. He was aware of everything around him, but he knew that no one could see him now. He had ceased to exist. A light shadow fell across Duo's body, cast by the one being that was aware of him, Shinigami.

It was time.

"Greetings, Shinigami," Duo said still looking at the ceiling above, unmoving from his spot. The robed figure looming over Duo did not move, simply standing over Duo Maxwell. The wind blew again, not disturbing the unyielding mist, but blowing the hood ever so teasingly. Duo could still not see the face beneath. He knew it was old and worn out, but he had never truly seen death this close.

"Are you ready?" asked the old, raspy voice from beneath death's veil.

"I am," answered Duo.

"Are you afraid?" 

"Not anymore," Duo said quietly, still very sure of his destiny. He stood and began removing his clothes, the last vestiges of what would have been his mortal life; the shirt, the pants, the cross, everything binding to this world. He would not need it for this mission. Shinigami mirrored Duo's actions, quietly removing the robe and hood, the only article of clothing the god wore. It fell to the ground of the park, revealing the naked old flesh beneath. Shinigami's long white hair blew in the artificial breeze, making his old bones ache even more for release. His term of service had been a punishment, not a gift. Now that it was over, the flesh that hung from weary bones was ready to end it. This reign was over and another's beginning.

Slowly, silently, each man picked up the pieces of the other's life and identity, dressing as the other as one piece removed must also be replaced. Duo knew no fear. He was already dead. This was his destiny. He pulled the hooded cloak about him, covering the naked flesh of his former life. Duo's hair blew free in the wind, it's braid lost forever, the souls it protected free to assist in whatever way they could. 

Shinigami stood before Duo, his new clothes hanging loosely on the dying embers of his human body. Duo could feel the weight Shinigami must bear on his very soul, as he hefted the scythe, the ultimate tool of death for so many. He could feel he power course into him, granting him abilities, becoming one with him. He could see who was to live, who was to die. He felt drunk off the power. Shinigami got weaker as the transference went on. Duo could not bear to se such a proud being fall like this, but it was the way. And when his time came, Duo knew he would do the same.

Shinigami lay down on the ground of the park, preparing for his eternal sleep. It had been earned after serving his punishment of six hundred years. Duo's term would last longer, but it was what Duo wanted, to be the god of death himself. He stood over the still form of the former Shinigami, lowering the scythe to touch him on the forehead ever so slightly. A small smile passed over the face of the old god.

"Sleep well old friend," said Duo, pulling the hood over his head. He took a long hard look at the colony that had been hi home for so long. The new Shinigami turned to face his future, where the mists had come from. It was not a clear path, full of uncertainty and sorrow, but it was the one he had chosen for himself. Shinigami turned and left the dying body behind as it drifted off into a dream-filled sleep, one that would last for all time. The body had a smile on its face that said three simple words: free at last.

Coming out of the dreamy haze, Duo rolled over in the bay and hit his head on the bulkhead of the shuttle as he let out a small yelp. This was the first he'd been able to rest on the trip out to the colonies, and now he was dreaming he was Death. He could only shake his head and sigh as he rolled over, one word came to his lips, the one thing he wanted now more than ever, "Heero."

***

Relena paced through her main greeting room to her office. She kept telling herself she needed to calm down, but her pacing just infuriated her even more. Ever since Quatre had returned with the Maguanacs he had found reasons to get out of meeting with her. "Not this time," she mumbled aloud as she looked at the clock. He was already fifteen minutes late.

By the time Quatre walked through the door she was fuming so much that all she could think to say was, "You're late."

Quatre simply smiled and walked over to take her hand, placing a gentle kiss on it. "I'm truly sorry, Miss Relena," said Quatre as he released her hand to look up into her eyes. Relena's fury faded quickly as her heart turned to mush. Even after all they'd been through, Quatre still carried his air of innocence. She motioned for him to take a seat as she placed herself almost undignifyingly on her desk.

"You and I need to talk Quatre. I want to be in on everything."

"What do you mean?" asked Quatre, still not sure where this meeting was leading.

"I mean I want to be in on the battle planning, battles, in the thick of it. I want to be involved so I don't feel like some fifth wheel that everyone around here fees they have to take care of and keep around just because of who I am."

Quatre looked at her with his kind eyes knowing full well what she wanted couldn't happen overnight. "But Miss Relena, you don't know how to fight or how to co-ordinate a battle. We'd love to have you in on our session but always felt that it'd bore you because you wouldn't know what was going on."

Relena got visibly angry again and launched herself from the desk, landing inches from Quatre's face. Now he was worried.

"Then god dammit Quatre, teach me! Teach me how to pilot a mobile suit, teach me how to organize a battle plan and how to co-ordinate the troops on the field! Stop treating me like a baby and help me learn!"

He sat looking into her eyes as the smile returned to his face. "I think that can be arranged."

***

Duo sat idly in the pilot's chair of the shuttle. Having pre-set the course earlier, there was no real reason for him to be in this seat, but he had nothing else to do but to sit and wait.

"Hey, hot stuff," came a sly, feminine voice from the seat next to him. Duo turned to face his former girl who sat lounging in the co-pilot's seat. "Long time, no see."

"Hilde?" asked Shinigami, shocked.

"Don't sound so surprised. You wanted someone to stop by and cheer you up."

"But I was just…" started Duo.

"Thinking about Heero. I know. I just happened to be closer than the little runt and a tad bit faster. He really hates that about me you know, especially with this whole eternal thing we have going on in the afterlife." Hilde winked at him. "I like the wings by the way. He was right. Not only do they suit you, but you really do look like an angel of vengeance."

Duo blushed. Hilde had been one to flatter, and for a time he'd chased after both hers and Heero's affections. 

"It's ok you know," Hilde said quietly. "What you've been doing is vengeance, protecting the innocent, taking the fight back to them 

for what was once ours." She smiled at him.

"But it's so very hard," said Duo quietly. "And every now and again it feels wrong somehow. I feel wrong."

"It's the brutality of it isn't it? Duo, you are a wonderful man. That never changed about you over the years. When you had to kill it was for a cause, and never what you considered cold blood. The circumstances are the same now. This is for a cause. The other boys knew it would be hard, too hard for them. You were strong enough to finish the task to the end. We all have faith in you, Duo Maxwell. We'll all be waiting for you, when it's done."

She blew him a kiss, leaving him alone as she vanished from sight. Duo was alone again. Duo hated being alone.

***

Relena sat in the newly rebuilt cockpit of Sandrock. She held her arms in her lap afraid to touch anything. It was her first time in an actual pilot's chair. Quatre leaned in the door, holding himself up by one hand as he passed instructions on to the dazed leader of the Sank Kingdom. Quatre, Noin and Sally were actually teaching her. They had only been going for the basics considering time constraints, but she had taken to it easily and would actually be able to pilot a mobile suit in combat. Relena knew then she wouldn't feel so useless anymore and could actually do some good for her people. With Quatre's help she could make the Sank Kingdom peaceful again. 

Quatre began explaining the differences between Sandrock's cockpit and the standard mobile suit. Much like car models, mobile suits differed in design, style and piloting ease. The Gundams were a real challenge, pushing the limits of the technology in every respect. Relena sat back further in the chair, feeling more comfortable as she adjusted. She absorbed any information the blonde pilot was passing on and found herself wishing that she could be the one to pilot Sandrock in the coming battles. A thought of her in Deathscythe Hell passed through her mind as she caught a glimpse of it across the hangar. The thought left her mind quickly. She knew it wasn't her place, and besides, Duo would be back soon enough. 

"This is going to be a little strange." Quatre placed his hands over Relena's. A light quiver went between them and passed quickly, their faces flushed red with embarrassment. He continued guiding her hands to the control sticks and planted her fingers where they needed to go. As modestly as he possibly could, the french-arabian pushed her legs apart and dropped her feet on the control pedals. She let out a small gasp when Quatre touched her, barely audible. He took his place back by the door and started his lesson once again. 

This time Relena wasn't listening. She was intent on one emotion, one thing that she hadn't noticed before, a tender feeling between herself and Quatre, love. It wasn't a quick love; just something that had always existed there besides the respect they'd always had for each other. It was something she'd never thought about until now or ever considered acting upon. 

Was this something that Duo had known about all along? She couldn't decide if he'd caused this flower to bloom or not, but she was grateful and elated at the prospect. 

*** 

Dark features and the fedora made Duo jerk his head to the side of the dark hangar of his shuttle. The Skull Cowboy had come for a visit again, but this time he didn't look like he was here for friendly advice. He stalked along the floor and made his way to Duo, wrapping the skeletal hand around Duo's throat. 

"What were you thinking, Maxwell?"

Duo didn't know what it wanted. The bird had slept the entire trip and he'd been allowed to rest in peace. This was the first time he'd been confronted with anything this trip besides Hilde and the strange dreams. To emphasize his point, the Skull Cowboy tore the fedora from his head exposing the rotting skull beneath and the total lack of eyes. Shinigami couldn't talk, couldn't even breathe.

"You broke a covenant of your return. You were to leave the Peacecraft woman be. You had relations with her, Maxwell. Do you realize what you've done?" The Skull Cowboy threw Duo across the empty shuttle hangar so that he slammed hard against the wall. Duo was afraid. It had hurt.

The rotting man strode across the hangar once again lifting Duo from the floor.

"You slept with her, Duo. You can never go back! You knew the rules!"

Duo got angry. He knew the rules; they were quite simple. Make things right. Duo grabbed the Skull Cowboy and tossed him to the floor. 

"I did what was right! I made things right between Relena and myself. I have nothing to answer for in this life or any other! You have no right coming here and claiming I've done wrong! What about you? What sins lead you to this line of existence?"

The Skull Cowboy only chuckled from the floor. "Your test is over, Maxwell. You are fit to finish what has begun. Just remember little angel; stay on the straight line to victory now. No more strays or the crow cannot help you." The Cowboy moved to pick up his hat and walked into the shadows once more, leaving Duo to his thoughts.

***

If there was one thing Relena Peacecraft had learned from the month of mobile suit training, it was that she shared the skills and love for this that her brother Zechs had. Although no where near his level, Relena had managed to achieve a command over the large war machines. 

Noin and Sally were confident in her abilities, and even Une had voiced her confidence when Quatre had gone to her for assistance, hoping at the very least that Une might be able to talk Relena out of her mindset. 

Une didn't understand, she couldn't possibly understand. She's fallen for the man they'd brought in the month before, ad he was quite smitten with her as well. Jessi had been a good thing for Une and had lifted her spirits. Quatre had wished them well as he left; heading out gravely disappointed in himself. 

He'd grown close to Relena, perhaps too close. Quatre knew the coming battles would not be pleasant. Dorothy had been busy re-grouping and re-building her forces. She wouldn't be toying with them anymore. Dorothy would be utterly ruthless, and much like a wounded lion, would attack for a quick kill to its prey for survival. Relena's insistence on being on the battlefield unnerved the Gundam pilot. 

More than anything else, Quatre found himself afraid for the first time since Duo had awakened him. He was afraid for the Sank Kingdom and for himself. Deep down in his heart Quatre knew that Duo would not survive this, even if he did not return to the Earth. Quatre knew it would be a desperate struggle to survive and he was afraid he would lose everything dear to him. 

Looking out over the main camp he surveyed the sunset. It was quite beautiful here. He sighed as he realized there would be no time for this and headed for the main tent where he and Rashid could talk in peace. He seemed to be the only one who could understand Quatre's dilemma, and he knew what words would inspire him to move on in this life and avoid the next.

*** 

Dorothy rose from the bed quietly and with little motion. She didn't want to wake her two bed partners, Christo and Davis. The trio had grown quite close in the past month; not that Dorothy was bothered to have her preferential bed partners at the same time. She knew it drew fierce competition between the two for her attention, and she had every intention of exploiting that. 

Throwing on her silk bathrobe, the blonde general glided down the hall from her bedroom to the war room. The digital clocks blared the time at her angrily, letting her know she should be asleep. Dorothy couldn't though; her dreams kept her awake. General Catalonia had never had dreams in the past, but now she was having recurring dreams, ever since she'd murdered Dutch for his incompetence. The clown haunted her dreams, laughing and pointing to the bodies of Alex and Mueller. 

She could see his face, but only while she slept. Whenever Dorothy awoke it would fade from her mind, slowly driving her mad. She knew she had to figure out who it was and soon or she'd never make it to the emperor's chair. Sighing quietly, Dorothy strode over to the combat layout of the Sank Kingdom and began reviewing and refining her main battle plan once more. She'd do anything to get her mind off the clown in the death mask. 

The overall strategies were in place, the plans refined since the fiasco at the spaceport. She would not under-estimate Relena again. Bringing in the Maguanacs had been completely brilliant, over-whelming her relatively in-experienced forces. No, Dorothy would be prepared and her victory would not only be complete, but glorious. The streets would run red with the blood of her enemies and Relena would beg before her for the lives of her people and for her own. 

Dorothy got excited at the thought of the impending attack and Relena's groveling. She pulled her robe tight about her again, the cold air and her excitement showing through the thin fabric as she made her way back into the bed to explore her lovers once more. 

She bit lovingly on Christo's ear, "Let's play."

*** 

Heero leaned over Duo's sleeping form, planting a solid kiss on his lovely lips. His eyes fluttered open, his gaze locking on Heero's. Shinigami flung his arms about the quiet boy, pulling him close. 

"I miss you so much," said Duo, tears stinging his cheeks. Duo kissed Heero again and again.

"Baka," whispered Heero.

"Shut up," muttered Duo. "This is my dream, dammit."

Heero smiled and melted into Duo's embrace, fully enjoying the experience of flesh on flesh once again. The two sat for what seemed like days, just enjoying being together again, gazing out at the stars. Heero finally broke the embrace and used the 

weightlessness of space to float in front of the braided dark angel.

"You've been doing very well, Duo," he said quietly.

"But let me guess, its not enough is it?"

"You knew what you were getting into with this mission of vengeance. We support you a hundred fold Duo, but for now the pain of it must be yours, and yours alone."

"And now you're going to leave me alone too? Why can't you stay with me, for just a little while longer?" asked Duo quietly.

"I am with you, Duo," said Heero, his form fading out into a thousand particles of light.

_Victory._

"We're all with you."

_Innocence.  
Life.  
Justice._

Duo's painful dream was broken by the alarm of the shuttle. Shinigami sat up to look out of his viewport. There it was, after nearly a month's journey in the old shuttle. His patience and mental anguish while he was alone was to be paid in full.

"L347, this is shuttle X42-648, requesting permission to dock."

After several minutes, a systems operator finally got on the line. Duo realized it would be about 3 a.m. on board the giant rotating colony.

"This is systems manager Fry. Permission granted to land at Bay 15. May we inquire as to the length of your visit and with whom?"

"Yes, no more than 24 hours and I'll be visiting with none other than Catherine Peacecraft."

"Enjoy your stay, mister?"

"Maxwell, Duo Maxwell."

With the transmission of the proper codes from Relena, the elevator doors opened, letting the shuttle into the hangar. The next stage of Duo's heartache was about to begin. Shinigami idly wondered what Catherine and Milliardo would think of him and what he had to say.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	13. Chapter 12

Mobile Suit _Gundam Wing  
_The Crow: Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Disclaimer:   
Gundam Wing and its characters are trademarked and copyright by Ban Dai. The Crow created by J.O. Barr. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to make money so do not distribute it with that purpose in mind!

Warning:   
This story contains violence, bad language, shonen ai, and references to the supernatural. Do not read if your parents won't let you go to a PG-13 movie!

Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Chapter Twelve "All Apologies or Flowers For the Dead"  
After Colony 210, June

"Cause I'm on the Outside  
I'm looking in  
I can see through you  
See your true colors  
Inside your ugly  
Ugly like me  
I can see through you  
See you the real you"  
_Outside_ – Staind with Fred Durst

Milliardo rose from the bed he shared with Catherine, his long blonde mane blowing in the light breeze of the open window. It was still hard for him to believe they were on a colony. He guessed it was the weather it seemed to share with the earth. Simply amazing. Something had awoken him however, and with no sound from the baby's room, the man who had been the Lightning Count was instantly on edge. Pulling his robe around him, Milliardo Peacecraft made his way to the living room and an open sliding glass door. He knew he'd closed it before. Something was definitely amiss.

He moved to close the door when a dark shape in the corner caught his eye. Milliardo moved into a defensive stance to defend himself against the intruder. The figure lifted from its crouching position revealing a painted on clown face in the artificial moonlight. Wings spread from either side in a show of power. The man who was Zechs Marquis was at a total loss for words.

"Hello Zechs," said the figure, " or is it Milliardo now? I never could keep track."

"Who are you?" demanded Milliardo after regaining some of his lost composure.

"The name's Maxwell. You used to know me, before the incident," said the figure whipping his head around to reveal a near-perfect braid the fell to his waist.

"Duo," Milliardo almost yelled in grim realization.

Duo motioned for silence with his finger. "You'll wake your baby."

"But you're…" stammered Milliardo.

"Don't. Don't even. I'm tired of everyone reminding me of my current bill of health."

"How?"

As if in response, Duo's crow flew into the window and landed on the back of a chair. The former Lightning Count looked on in slight confusion.

"Is Catherine home?" asked Duo nonchalantly.

"You're here to talk to my wife?"

"No, not I," said Duo bowing gracefully. "I am but a simple messenger for the departed with a message from her brother, Trowa. He has a few things he'd like to say to her."

***

Christo and Davis had been left on their own for less than a week before they'd challenged each other to mobile suit combat. Dorothy had left them both equally in charge, however the pair's continual fight for Dorothy's favor and position in the bed forced them to this small squabble for dominance. There had been too many split decisions between the two and this would decide who was in charge once and for all, or in the very least until Dorothy returned and made the big decisions again.

Davis brought her Serpent armor online and began actively pinging for Christo's position. She wasn't about to let the sneaky bastard get the jump on her. Even though her search would light her up like a Christmas tree, Davis felt confident enough in her skills that she felt she could take Christo out, especially up close. Christo was cocky and he always made mistakes. She would be prepared.

Not three seconds after active pinging had started, her radar picked up Christo's mobile suit flying through the trees at her from the rear. Davis cursed under her breath, whipping the powerful Serpent armor around and bringing the Gatling cannons online.

"Let's see how well you like dodging bullets, Sir Knight," chuckled Davis as she let fly with several long bursts from her guns. The tops of the trees fell to all sides before her like Moses parting the Red Sea. Exposed, Christo took to the air flying high above the tree line. That's when Davis saw the large Boom on Christo's sure and immediately lunged back.

Moving too late, warning sirens went off in Davis' suit alerting her the left leg gyros were damaged and off-line. She cursed realizing that her choices for victory were now cut down in the close combat area. She turned her mic on and opened a comm channel with Christo.

"How'd you get a rail gun programmed in?" She demanded.

"Just my over-whelming charm with the ladies my dear," he answered with a wink.

"Bastard," she yelled firing her Gatling cannons upward after Christo's mobile suit. He turned and dodged but lined up quickly for another shot. Davis launched her suit off the ground, dropping the cannons behind her she pulled her weapon of choice; the beam saber.

Christo managed to stow the rail gun and pull his own beam saber just as Davis arrived. Blow after blow ignited the air and shook the large weapons of war. Davis skill with the saber was unmatched in Dorothy's private army and Christo knew he'd have to do something soon or he'd be bowing down to her for 2 weeks. Reversing thrusters, his Serpent armor flew back and down towards the tree line.

Davis was clever and knew his little tricks, and instead of pursuing close range continued from above and threw her beam saber like a javelin into the back of Christo's suit. It convulsed once and exploded. Davis cheered as she pulled off her helmet.

"You cheated," came Christo's voice from across the simulator room.

"I'm not the one who brought in munitions we don't' even have," argued Davis. "Rail Gun indeed. Besides, had I turned my back to you, you'd have done the same thing."

Christo was almost pouting now. "Lucky shot."

"Lucky shot or not, Christo," stated Davis with a wry smile on her face. "I won. Enjoy your extended patrol duty lover boy."

***

Quatre lay quietly on his bed, sheets wrapping him like a cocoon. It felt god to be here. It always did. Things were different in this place. His Trowa was still alive. The blonde Arabian knight could hear soft footfalls in the hallway approaching his room. Quatre pulled the sheets back on one side to give his partner room. He needed his time with Trowa now more than ever. He missed him so.

"Querido," breathed Trowa leaning over and kissing Quatre lightly on the lips. He sat down on the edge of the bed as if something were troubling him.

"What's wrong Trowa?" asked Quatre, his calmness betrayed by his expression.

Trowa turned to Quatre, his bangs hiding nothing of the sorrow in his eyes. Quatre's heart melted. "I have to go away now, Quatre. My time here is ending. I leave here after Duo delivers my message. This one I needed to give to you personally."

"Trowa, no!" Quatre wrapped his arms around the former pilot of Heavy Arms.

"There aren't any options left to me I'm afraid, my dear Quatre." Trowa brushed Quatre's hair out of his face as his eyes welled up. "I'm sorry this dream can't be better for you, but I'm not sure how else to let you know how I feel."

"I miss you so," mumbled Quatre through the tears.

"I know you do, but you cannot mourn me forever. I've passed on and you are still here my novio. You need to be strong, for both of us. You need to carry on the life we were going to have. There is someone out there who wants you, and deep down you want her as well."

"Miss Relena," whispered Quatre.

"Yes. Live out the life we would have had Quatre. We had plans and I don't want them to destroy them all. Relena is willing and so are you. There is nothing wrong with how you are feeling. I'm lost to you for now, but I will be waiting for you Quatre. I'll always be here. Go out with her, marry her, have the kids we were planning to adopt. Live your life to its fullest Quatre. For me."

"I will, Trowa," Quatre pulled him close and kissed him. "I will."

Quatre awoke alone in his bedroom, the one side of his bed depressed where Trowa had been.

"I'll live my life, Trowa. This I swear to you."

***

Milliardo sat in grim silence as Duo talked with Catherine about Trowa's last days. He sat back in his chair gently holding his and Catherine's child; baby Treize. Treize had only awoken once, when Duo had first arrived at their window, but had been quiet ever since. Occasionally the 18-month-old would turn his head to look at Duo, but would then quickly look away. It was if the baby couldn't make heads or tails out of Duo. Milliardo looked fondly at his son.

"Don't worry, Treize," whispered the Peacecraft. "I don't understand either."

After about 5 more minutes of talking, both Duo and Catherine broke into tears and held each other quietly. It was here that Milliardo made his decision to aid Shinigami and go back with Duo to Earth. He and Relena were still on uncertain terms after his last trip there, but he needed to go. He'd let Earth's five saviors handle it even after he had seen what they were up against. Even Gundanium could only stand so much and he knew they'd be over-matched. He could have done something. Anything.

There were two big reasons he'd decided not to go back to Earth; one was in his lap, and the other was crying on a dead man's shoulder. He didn't have to fight to support Relena's cause now, and he knew she'd appreciate the little gift he'd had repaired almost 16 years before. Destroy his mobile suit, indeed. 

As Duo geared up to go and said his goodbye to Catherine, Milliardo stood and walked over. Duo smiled at baby Treize and continued to put his new trench coat on. 

"Duo, I need to ask you a favor," said the former lightning count.

"I'm all out of favors I'm afraid, Zechs," Duo said pulling his hair out from under the coat.

"This one requires no effort on your part, just an extra seat and some storage space on your shuttle back to Earth."

"Milliardo, no!" exclaimed Catherine, rushing in as she thought she'd figured out what her husband was up to. "You're not gong back to fight!"

"I know. I promised you and Treize that well over a year ago."

"Treize?" asked Duo sarcastically. "You named your baby, Treize? Sheesh! And I thought Maremaia had issues! Zechs you take the cake!"

Milliardo shot Duo a look and turned his attentions back to Catherine.

"I want to take the Tallgeese back to the Sank Kingdom. It won't do any good up here, and I know my sister won't accept it without an explanation directly from me. I have to go so that the war down there doesn't come up here. And with Dorothy behind the helm it will."

"Such faith in me, Zechs, I'm impressed," Duo quipped as he sat on the armchair of the couch.

"I'm Milliardo now, Duo and unlike some people I've matured a bit with life's experiences."

Duo winced and turned away. He never could stomach Zechs, in any form.

Catherine smiled up and took Treize from her husband. "You'd better come back to me. I don't think this universe is ready for you to come back from the dead. Treize and I'll be waiting here for news. Go, do your part. I shouldn't have kept you from going last time. I'm sorry."

Milliardo and Catherine kissed, careful not to crush the baby. He gave the baby a playful ruffle and went to grab his coat from the wall. 

"I'll be back Cat," said Milliardo as the two men stepped out the door. "I promise you, I will be back."

***

Relena moved her Leo into position behind the four-story courthouse in town-square. Raising her cannon into position she targeted the approaching Serpent armor. Powering her Leo down into shutdown levels, she hoped to evade the approaching suits by appearing as nothing more than a toaster oven. Watching patiently as they passed, Relena waited for her moment to strike.

After the trio had passed the queen of the Sank Kingdom kicked the power on the old mobile suit and let loose with her cannon. The first two suits went down quickly as the knees exploded and spilt from the rest of the leg. The third suit she got a lucky shot in on and hit a power-cell. The explosion knocked her suit back a bit as the remains dropped to the ground. 

"Quatre, I got them!" she exclaimed into her headset. "I got…" An explosion behind her cut Relena's celebration short as she felt her mobile suit fall forward, warning klaxons blaring and emergency lights flashing. Her Leo's screens went to static and she could smell the stench of ozone and smoke in the pilot's compartment.

"Open her up," came Quatre's voice through the hull. The in front of opened with a grown and the screens moved aside to let the blonde Arab inside. "So what went wrong?"

"I got hit by a missile," Relena answered grimly.

"Do you know why you got hit by a missile?"

Relena thought for a moment. "I wasn't looking at my scanners."

"Right, and now you're dead," said Quatre simply.

"I'm trying harder, Quatre," said Relena as she put her head in her hands. 

Quatre leaned forward and placed his hands on either side of her head and raised it to meet his gaze. "It's ok, Relena. You've been training hard for weeks now, and you lasted in that simulator for nearly forty-five minutes. That's fantastic."

Relena's face brightened a bit. "I did all right?" she asked.

"You did great." Quatre grabbed a hold and pulled her from the chair. "Come on, you have most definitely earned yourself Jeremy's Chocolate Dream."

"What's that?" asked Relena.

"It's a surprise."

***

Quatre and Relena sat in the small coffee shop sipping gently on their orders. Relena had been pleasantly surprised by the flavor of the drink.

"What's in this again, Quatre?"

"It's like a mocha or something, but the owner adds a special ingredient to give it the flavor," said Quatre as he took another sip.

"So what's the special ingredient?" asked Relena, her curiosity piqued.

"Oh, it's really simple," Quatre said leading her into his explanation. "All they do is add Hershey's syrup to the final mix."

"That's it?" she asked incredulously. "Why is it Jeremy's Chocolate Dream though? Isn't the owner's name Devon?"

"Yes, but apparently a private in the OZ units so many years ago liked the Chocolate Dream and would order it everyday. Devon found out his name and it became Jeremy's Chocolate Dream."

"Is that the only reason he named it after him?"

Quatre laughed and set his drink aside and moved to put his hand on hers.

"No, he mainly named it after Jeremy because Jeremy is the only person who comes here that doesn't know what the secret ingredient is."

Relena forced back a laugh as she sipped at her drink and set it down. She went to wipe away the chocolate that had settled on her lips, but Quatre intercepted with a napkin.

"Allow me, Miss Relena."

"Quatre, please just call me Relena," she smiled at him warmly.

"Relena it is then."

***

Duo sat quietly at the controls. It had been a quiet trip so far. Milliardo had sat in silence and Shinigami wasn't about to talk to him. There seemed to be some bad blood with Milliardo, but Duo could not remember any. Milliardo just was. 

_Justice.  
Life.  
Innocence.  
Victory.  
Death._

"I know," Duo muttered quietly. "My time is almost up. Soon, my friends. Soon."

"Did you say something?" asked the Lightning Count.

"Nothing that would concern you," Duo said sharply adjusting his controls.

Milliardo sighed and looked out the viewport of the shuttle. He wasn't sure how to apologize to the Gundam pilot for his actions in the past. He wasn't sure if Duo wanted him to, but it was eating him up inside. He turned and looked to Duo, his wings glistening in the sunlight streaming in through the 2-½ inch thick panes of plas-steel. Duo looked almost majestic. Milliardo could begin to see what Relena and Heero had seen in Duo.

"Look, Duo," Milliardo finally started.

"No," Duo interrupted. "Don't talk. I don't want your pity. I don't want to listen to any bullshit about how your sorry you didn't come to help. I don't want to hear it. We knew the risks, we took our chances. We weren't expecting any help. The five of us went out there to do what we do best, and we were slaughtered doing our best. That's why I'm here, to right the wrongs. I'm not here to listen to your explanations."

Duo glared at Milliardo. "You had a family to take care of, you still do. I'm not quite sure why you're even with me on this trip."

"Duo, I understand why you're here. Why you came to see Catherine. I don't approve of what Dorothy's done any more than you. That's why I'm here. That's why I have my cargo with me."

Duo looked away and Milliardo thought he could hear Heero's non-committal snort. Suddenly the reversing thrusters kicked in and the Lightning Count was thrown forward into his straps. He winced at the pain and when he looked again Duo was heading towards the back of the shuttle. Duo's winged flapped in the zero gravity propelling him forward along with his hands along the sides of the small corridor.

"Where are you going? Duo! Why have we stopped?"

But Duo wasn't hearing him. He was only hearing the voices, one in particular, Wufei's.

Flipping one switch along the side of the hull, a small compartment opened up and a jet of compressed air shot out launching a long cylinder into space. Duo returned to his seat and flipped another switch that opened the container. Milliardo watched as what appeared to be hundreds of roses came pouring out into space. He turned to look at Duo to find some understanding there.

Duo sat looking into his lap; one tear falling down the make-up covered cheek.

"For Meiran," he whispered. "For Wufei's colony and his family. For Justice served."

TO BE CONTINUED…


	14. Chapter 13

Mobile Suit _Gundam Wing  
_The Crow: Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Disclaimer:   
Gundam Wing and its characters are trademarked and copyright by Ban Dai. The Crow created by J.O. Barr. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to make money so do not distribute it with that purpose in mind!

Warning:   
This story contains violence, bad language, shonen ai, and references to the supernatural. Do not read if your parents won't let you go to a PG-13 movie!

Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Chapter Thirteen "Offerings and Refusals"  
After Colony 210, July

"What I've felt, What I've known  
Never shined through in what I've shown  
Never be, Never see  
Won't see what might have been

What I've felt, What I've known  
Never shined through in what I've shown  
Never free, Never me  
So I dub thee Unforgiven."  
-"Unforgiven" - Metallica

Relena walked behind her brother, Milliardo. She should have been fuming at his arrival now but she'd realized long before why he hadn't come to assist the Gundam pilots. He had chose to stay at home to be with his family and protect them if Dorothy had taken her plans of conquest to the stars. That was why he was here now, to prevent that event from coming to pass. Despite their past differences she was glad to see him.

"Where exactly are you taking me?" she asked after walking across the main courtyard of the Sank Kingdom on her brother's heels.

"I have…a gift for you Relena. Since I'd heard Duo talking about you I'd figured out that you were going to get more involved in the situation here. So when I asked Duo for a ride to Earth I brought along something that I thought might come in useful."

Relena looked up to see the Spaceport looming before them as the pair walked towards it. "But I already have a Spaceport," she said jokingly.

Milliardo's lip curled into a smile. "I see you've developed a sense of humor."

"I always had one, there was just never an appropriate time to really show it off," said Relena.

"I see," Milliardo answered quietly as he stepped up to the shuttle he'd arrived in. He took her by the hand and led her inside to the cargo area. Reaching out to a nearby panel, Milliardo began to turn on the interior lights.

Relena's eyes went wide as she realized what lay on its back before her.

"Tallgeese," she whispered as if it would reach out and grab her. "You're giving me Tallgeese?"

"What good is it doing me?" the former pilot asked. "If you have the will to tame it, I can show you the finer points in piloting it. From what I gathered from Quatre, Noin and Sally Po you've become quite the pilot."

"It must run in the family," she murmured as she climbed up the gleaming white Titanium hull to the pilot's compartment. Milliardo followed after.

"You have to be careful. It tends to get out of control. Tallgeese demands respect, but it does fly off the handle like a spoiled child if not kept in check."

"What do you mean?" asked a confused Relena.

"Tallgeese uses a very primitive form of the Zero system," Milliardo answered quietly. "Are you familiar with it?"

"Only what Quatre told me about it," she answered grimly. He said it gets into your mind and shows you your enemy, but that also sometimes it shows your friends as enemies as well. He also said it's not very pleasant either."

"The system's that were installed into the Gundams were like that, yes. Tallgeese's is less advanced, but don't let that fool you. It can be a bear."

"Show me," Relena said as she ducked inside.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

***

Howard paced frantically in the Gundam hangar in front of the main doors. Quatre was supposed to have been here already. As was becoming the french-arab's style however, he was fashionably late. Howard could feel the tension in the air today like the calm before the storm. With the break in Dorothy's siege, it was growing closer to the time when she'd choose to openly attack again. 

Howard stopped to check his watch again.

"Damn," cursed Howard. "Where is that kid?"

Howard started pacing again for about thirty seconds before he felt the need to look at his watch again. 

"Damn. Damn!"

Just then Quatre came walking up the path from the Gundam pilot's gravestone below. Howard suddenly felt very foolish for his impatience.

"Quatre, Sandrock is finished."

"So they tell me. May I see him?" asked Quatre.

"Of course. Follow me, although I believe you know the way."

Howard led Quatre into the hangar passed Deathscythe who stood now like a guardian for the pilot's lost souls. The scythe was held in one hand and deactivated, but Howard swore he could still feel those green eyes following him. A chill ran up his spine as he forced himself to look forward. Had those orbs flashed with energy? Impossible. He continued onward into a better-lit area of the hangar.

As Quatre walked up, the lighting seemed to grow brighter and began to highlight the white and yellow surfaces of Gundam Sandrock. The Scimitars sat holstered on its back and a long cloak spread out across its shoulders and down past its knees. A tear fell down Quatre's cheek.

"Thank you for this Howard," he smiled and looked at the engineer. "The cloak is a nice touch."

Howard returned the smile and tossed something wrapped in cloth to Quatre. "I believe this is yours too. Rashid gave them to me before he went out on patrol with the other Maguanacs. He said you'd know what to do with them."

Quatre laughed a little after he'd unwrapped the cloth and removed a new pair of goggles. "I'll have to thank him when I get out on the line." Quatre slid the goggles on over his head and left them up. He wouldn't need them for awhile.

Ascending the drop line, Quatre leapt into his pilot seat, settling back into what felt like an old friend. 

"I missed you Sandrock. Let's protect what's ours."

Sandrock's thrusters fired up and it flew out of the hangar to join the Maguanac Corps already on patrol.

"Good luck," called Howard after the leaving Gundam. "You're all going to need it."

***

Dorothy sat quietly at the head of the glossy black table. Davis sat to her left, Christo to her right. The lighting had been set lower more for effect. General Catalonia wanted to inspire some confidence in her troops before their all out attack the next day. Surveying the faces of her eight commanders she could see the meeting was hardly necessary. They were already prepared, except for one who appeared somewhat nervous. No matter. Dorothy would return his confidence.

Quietly, she eased herself from her chair and placed her hands on the table. Tossing her head back, Dorothy's hair caught the fan's gentle breeze and blew it back behind her. 

"We've been out here a long time my friends," began Dorothy. "Relena and her prissy little defense force have put up quite a fight. While I was away recruiting new blood I heard plenty of rumors circulating about Emerald Green. Do you know what I heard?" She raised her hands from the table and began to walk around, her hand placed thoughtfully on her chin.

"I have heard we are weak! I heard we are soft! Now I know this is not the case. Emerald Green is strong and united we can conquer the world and eventually space. Our results here have been unacceptable! We should have been crushing Relena's corpse under our mobile suit's heels a year ago!"

"We've tried our best, General," said the nervous lieutenant.

"Your best isn't good enough apparently!" she screamed, slapping the lieutenant across the face. Dorothy slammed her hands on the table next to the startled man who was now clutching at his cheek. The lieutenant tried not to squirm as Dorothy sneered at him. "I demand your best and I give rewards to those who give me their best! I want victory here! Total and absolute! No exceptions."

Dorothy took a step back from the table with her arms raised like a gross interpretation of Christ on the cross. "I want you people to be able to look me straight in the eye again and say 'Are we having fun or what?'"

A pair of flapping wings and the squawking sound of a black crow cut Dorothy's revelry short. General Catalonia turned to see it land in the center of the table and squawk again.

"How in the hell did that get in here?" Dorothy asked.

As if in answer to Dorothy's question, the meeting hall doors burst open as a dark figure with a painted face entered the room. It moved with gracefulness and purpose and what appeared to be large bat-like wings extended from either side.

"You're along way from Kansas, General Dorothy, ma'am," said the crow, loudly.

"And just who are you?" Dorothy asked. 

Everyone in the room looked extremely tense and Christo and Davis looked ready to leap across the table to get at the wraith. Dorothy knew that no sidearm was untouched, but wouldn't be drawn until she gave the order, or until he moved towards her.

"I am the Dark Avenger that you've heard so much about," the figure smiled. "I am the one who has nearly crippled your new forces. My name is Shinigami, pilot of Deathscythe and Deathscythe Hell. I am the right hand of Vengeance, and the boot that is going to kick your sorry ass to death's door, dammit. I am death incarnate, and the last living thing that you and your friends here are ever going to see. Heero Yuy sent me."

***

Milliardo had left Relena alone with Quatre to finish off her training. The chemistry between the two had been incredibly charming and made him long for Catherine's willing arms. He sighed to himself and headed across the courtyard to the Dorlan Medical Center.

Quatre had been brief and to the point when he'd laid it on the line about the past year's events. Milliardo knew Noin was better off where she was now with Sally and not chasing after him. He wasn't planning on meeting with her, but he was prepared for the inevitable. What he'd heard about Une's accident had troubled him, and even though she might have seemed happy with Jessie, at least according to Quatre, Milliardo thought he had a solution. He only hoped his solution would go over well with both of them.

The nurses at the front desk were more than helpful when they found out who Milliardo was the brother of. His looks may have also had something to do with it. They usually did. When he first arrived at Une's room he wasn't quite sure if he should enter. Jessie and Une were sharing a private moment together. After what felt like an appropriate amount of time, Milliardo sighed to himself and pushed open the door with a knock. Jessie and Une looked up at the sound.

"Zechs," Une cried happily. "You managed to make it. A little late, but it's good to see you again."

He smiled and entered the room to give her a large hug. "It's Milliardo, now, permanently," he corrected politely.

"I never liked that name, Zechs," she chided jokingly. Her paralization hadn't killed the sense of humor she'd obtained working in the Preventers. "What brings you to my lovely Hospital Room of Death?"

Jessie sat back, realizing that these two needed a little re-acquainting time, and that he'd get his chance to speak soon enough. It always amazed him how Une could utterly dominate any conversation with just a few simple sentences.

"Quatre told me about your condition and your new friend," said Milliardo as he offered his hand to Jessie. Jessie took his hand and shook it warmly. Une smiled at the two and clasped Jessie's hand tightly in hers.

"We're very happy," she said. "Despite the wonderful news coverage." Une gestured to the muted television set in the corner that was set on the World News Channel. The broadcaster was talking about Emerald Green and the situation with the Sank Kingdom.

"They don't' understand what's at stake here," Milliardo said quietly. "That's partly why I came here. How would you like to go with me to space? It won't matter there that you can't walk. The offer is extended to both of you of course. There are low gravity colonies, and in their center there is no gravity at all. You two could live out your lives peacefully there."

"I appreciate the offer, but it seems like we'd be running away," Jessie declined.

"No, I wouldn't consider running away. I want to see this to the end as much as you two do."

Une wiped a tear from her face. "We'll think about it Zechs. It's definitely something to consider. Thank you."

***

"Shoot him!" shouted Dorothy as she moved for her sidearm. The others in the room went theirs, including Duo. For the first time since he'd picked up Heero's pistol, he now wielded it with the intention of ending someone's life. He pulled it out with lightning quick speed and had the weapon trained on Dorothy's head before she could even draw.

_Life.  
Innocence.  
Justice.  
Victory.  
Death._

Duo sensed something different in the mantra this time. Death didn't carry his voice this time, but it was something or someone vaguely familiar. The change worried him, but his aim never faltered.

_Life._

"Let's see if the Emerald City can stand up if Dorothy's Tin Woodsman rusts." Duo pulled the trigger and was already moving into a body flip into the air before the bullet connected with its intended target; the room's lighting switches. The damage done to the panel shorted out the wiring and plunged the room into darkness.

_Innocence._

It didn't matter to Duo as the crow was seeing everything for him. Duo continued through the air, finishing off his flip on the table into a run. His run ended with a dazed looking Christo as he spread his wings wide and flew up to the rafters, his pray in his arms. Shinigami holstered the gun and pulled the knife he'd lifted from Mueller's corpse. He held it to Christo's throat.

_Justice._

"Shhh," whispered Duo. "We wouldn't want them shooting at us up here would we?"

Christo's eyes slowly adjusted to focus in on the freakish gothic clown make-up the winged demon had on.

_Victory._

"What are you?" mumbled Christo.

"I believe the appropriate question you should be asking here, is whom. I'm the braided one in the big black Gundam. Like the wings?"

_Death._

"Maxwell," Christo breathed as his eyes went wide.

"Guess it's just not a good day to be a bad guy, eh Christo?" Duo slowly drew the blade across Christo's throat, cutting open the life-pumping arteries and veins that supplied Christo's body. Duo quickly held Christo back over the table with his arms spread wide. "Happy landings."

Duo let Christo go and watched, as he seemed to fall in slow motion towards the table below. The lighting in the room had been restored and they were slowly turning on to full. Duo wanted to revel in this one's demise and closed his eyes. There was only pain in that darkness for Shinigami. There he saw Christo fire on a Gundam that was already downed. The pilot was still alive inside the pilot's compartment and was trying to exit quickly. 

The mini-missiles Christo had launched streaked towards their target, blowing the once proud pilot of Wing Zero off his Gundam. The heat and concussive blast vaporized large portions of the body leaving little left. Only Wing Zero's presence would later let them know who it was that had died there. When Duo opened his eyes again they were filled with tears, but he could hear Christo's body strike the table and smash the glass. The shards flew everywhere, glass chunks spraying the command staff clustered there.

_Death._

Duo perked up. He knew that voice. It was the voice of Professor G. Deathscythe's programmed voice

_Death._

Who are you?

_Death._

Why do you want me?

_Deathscythe._

"So you want in on the action too old buddy? I wouldn't want you to miss out."

Duo spread his wings wide and headed for the open skylight and his waiting motorcycle outside; Black Death. The crow followed him from the room and began flying towards the hangar and the waiting Gundam.

Inside the meeting room everyone was still too stunned to move.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	15. Chapter 14

Mobile Suit _Gundam Wing  
_The Crow: Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Disclaimer:   
Gundam Wing and its characters are trademarked and copyright by Ban Dai. The Crow created by J.O. Barr. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to make money so do not distribute it with that purpose in mind!

Warning:   
This story contains violence, bad language, shonen ai, and references to the supernatural. Do not read if your parents won't let you go to a PG-13 movie!

Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Chapter Fourteen "Blitzkrieg"  
After Colony 210, July

"I am the new way to go.  
I am the way of the future.

I am the new way to go.  
I am the way of the future."  
- "After the Flesh" – My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult

Dorothy had made her way past her stunned officers and over the shattered remains of the table to her dead lover. She brushed aside the glass around Christo's head and got down on her knees to cradle it in her lap. She put two fingers on his eyes to push them closed and began singing a quiet hymn to herself. Dorothy tried to will the tears away, but in the end her tears proved stronger.

Her officers scattered about the room, scrambling the camp's defenses. General Catalonia knew it would be pointless. The braided wraith and his bird would be nowhere on the grounds. Davis made her way over the table to sit next to the two lovers that had shared her bed so many times.

"I'm sorry, General," she said quietly as she put her hand on Dorothy's shoulder. Her words sounded empty and hollow to her, but she didn't know what else she could say. 

"We had so many plans," Dorothy muttered through the sobs. She took many strong breaths as if gathering her strength and set Christo's lifeless corpse back on the ground. Slowly, the General stood a grim look on her tear-reddened face.

"No mercy," Dorothy said quietly.

"General?" questioned Davis.

"We are initiating the plan in two hours. We will show them no mercy. We will march forward and destroy every living thing in out sights and we will burn it to the ground. I want Relena dead. I want Quatre dead. Most importantly I want this freak clown's head crushed beneath the heel of my mobile suit!

"We are mobilizing people!" yelled Dorothy. "No mercy. Do you get me?"

***

The Gundam Hangar seemed hollow. Sandrock was gone now; no longer were the piles of twisted metal littering the floors. Duo knew Quatre was out there. Shinigami knew and he paused at the open hangar doors. Deathscythe waited in there, and for the first time, Duo was afraid of his Gundam.

When he'd awoken months before it had shown him the past. Duo could feel it ready to spill its secrets again. He didn't know if he was ready though.

_Death._

"I'm here," said Shinigami quietly. The crow grew impatient and entered the hangar, flying in under the lights to land in front of Deathscythe. It turned to face Duo and squawked at him urgently.

_Death._

Shinigami closed his eyes and stepped over the threshold. A chill ran the course of Duo's spine that made him stop and visibly shudder. He could feel and hear his wings flap a bit and his braid fell across his shoulder.

_Death._

"I hear ya old buddy," Duo said to the waiting Gundam. "I know how you feel. But you and I need to have a little talk before we do this."

_Death._

The crow rustled its feathers and leapt up onto Deathscythe's foot expectantly. Shinigami walked in again and made his way to the gangway rope that extended from the cockpit.

"I have a feeling this is the last time you and I are going into battle Deathscythe. It's been nearly a year and I'm not sure how rusty I'm gonna be. I need you to behave for me. There are things you want to show me, but I don't need to see those now.

"You have to be my eyes and ears out there on the battlefield, not a long lost diary. I appreciate the effort, but please just help me do what I'm here to do out there. I did come back for you after all. You probably aren't understanding any of this."

Duo looked up into his Gundam's face and the green eyes glowed back at him. Shinigami smiled and grabbed the towline that began winching him up to the cockpit with the flick of a switch. Duo stepped off and gingerly lowered himself into the seat. Slowly he let his fingers curl around the control sticks. A few seconds later, with no visions or hallucinations, Duo felt compelled to let out a sigh of relief that appeared visibly in the cold hangar.

Reaching to a panel to his left, Shinigami activated Deathscythe's primary systems and closed the hatch. Viewscreens popped on giving Duo a total of 180 degree from his seat. The radio began to blair out a warning signal followed by reports of troop and Mobile Suit movement. Dorothy had started her attack.

Grabbing the control sticks, Duo forced Deathscythe forward towards the hangar doors. The Gundam spread its wings wide and engaged its thrusters on its pilot's command. It left a cloud of dust and exhaust in its wake on the way to the battle, obscuring a man in a trenchcoat with a large hat and skull-like features. The Skull Cowboy extended his arm to leave space for the crow to land.

"Our job is almost finished here my friend. Let's pray the battle goes well for the side of good."

*** 

Sally and Noin stood on the outside of the large troop transport ushering civilians inside. The warning sirens had sounded five minutes before Dorothy's forces arrived and were to have given plenty of time for the populace to evacuate. An explosion less than two miles away proved that theory wrong.

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" asked Sally as she helped an elderly couple into the back of the transport.

"No, but we need to get these people out of here," answered Noin. "We'll be into the battle soon enough."

"But Relena and Quatre are already out there," said Sally.  
"And so are the Maguanacs. As good as you think you are Sally, we won't make that much of a difference right now."

Sally frowned at Noin and helped a child in, handing the girl the teddy bear she had dropped.

"If it means that much to you Sally, you can think of us as the last minute cavalry," chided Noin.

"If you say so," Sally said as the last civilian was loaded. "All right Jeremy, let's move out!"

"Yes, sir!" came the answer from the truck's cab as it pulled away to an underground sanctuary. Noin and Sally realized how close the battle would be as a damaged mobile suit came crashing down into the street behind them and took out several houses. 

"Cavalry, indeed," muttered Sally. "And I'm a Chinese Gundam pilot."

*** 

Quatre and the Maguanacs had created a defensive perimeter around the outside of the main city. The Elite Mobile Suits were to stay at least on mile in while the Maguanacs held onto what Relena had affectionately dubbed "the line." Quatre knew he should have hidden Heero's old Babylon 5 vids. He cursed lightly as more enemy fire rained down on his position.

Using an older warehouse for cover, Quatre maneuvered Sandrock around to a better firing position against the bigger and bulkier Serpent Armor. Tapping lightly into what Quatre liked to think of as residual Zero System, Quatre lined up where he calculated the mobile suit would make its appearance and let loose his scimitars. Even now the Zero System gave him the creeps, almost sixteen years later. Sandrock's scimitars flew through the air in their circular motion and several seconds later connected with the enemy serpent armor.

Quickly and carefully, Quatre moved Sandrock over to retrieve his weapons. He turned his comm system into the Sank Emergency Frequency.

"Are the civvies out of the area?" Quatre asked.

Sally Po's face lit up on his right screen. "We're moving the last of them now. Noin and I should be joining the line shortly."

"Good news," came a gruff voice as Rashid's face appeared beside Sally's.

"How are the Maguanacs holding up Rashid?"

"We're holding our own. They seem to be rushing one area in particular, but we have all the areas covered."

"Seems like a typical Dorothy-planned attack," came Relena over Quatre's radio. "They'll begin their all out attack….Quatre, they're already here!"

Relena's radio cut out and Quatre started Sandrock into a run towards the Kingdom's Center.

"Rashid! Move your troops in! They made it past the line somehow and are attacking the Elite! We need to back them up now!"

"On our way, Master Quatre! Maguanacs, you heard him! Move out! Double time!" barked Rashid.

As Quatre neared Sank's Center he could finally pick up ground signatures and a few parasails. The enemy suits must have dropped in powered down to avoid detection. Sandrock's scanners homed in on Relena's last transmission point and Quatre activated his thrusters to get there faster. When he arrived he found two of the nine Elite Guard down and the Tallgeese in a sabre to sabre match-up.

Sandrock ran in full sprint and sunk its scimitars deep into the body of the attacking Serpent Armor, creating an explosive fireball that encompassed Sandrock and Tallgeese. The two suits had taken nothing but cosmetic damage.

Relena's stern face appeared on his comm panel. "Dammit Quatre, I had him."

Quatre smiled at her. "It's good to see you alive, too."

Relena shook her head. "You old smoothie," she started. "Down Quatre!"

Reacting quickly, Sandrock dropped to one knee as the Tallgeese raised and fired its Dober Cannon. The Serpent Armor that had entered the clearing shifted slightly from the blast and then fell on its face.

"Remind me to never piss you off," said Quatre over his comm.

"Good thing to remember," she said as she moved the cannon back to its resting position. "It's a shame I can't use the heat cannon in the atmosphere. I could really do some damage then."

Quatre moved Sandrock up and looked for his next target. Tallgeese and Relena had already left the clearing by the time he'd stood.

***

"Davis, how goes our little diversionary tactic?" asked General Catalonia as she surveyed her start-up screens.

"We have them dis-oriented and confused. The Mobile Dahls we planted in the forest months ago at our last meeting here are functioning beautifully. They're making it look like we're dropping in," Davis answered with an evil glint in her eye. Dorothy was reminded of the Grinch cartoon she saw as a child and had to contain her laughter.

"Excellent. Prepare our troops and let slip the dogs of war. We will have our victory this day!" Dorothy cut communications and moved her suit forward in her front line. The other mobile suits in her command followed suit. She tried to imagine what her advance must look to the poor Maguanac fools at the base of the hill as a squad of twenty suits came roaring down upon them.

She could imagine the screams from inside as she mangled the suit in her hands and tore it apart limb from limb. Dorothy drew quite an audience and reveled in it, pulling the limp pilot from the twisted metal that had been the pilot's compartment. She held the body between her suit's fingers for a moment, savoring the first real death of this glorious battle. The hand curled into a fist and a rush of blood and gore poured out between the metal joints. Dorothy smiled and moved on to her next victim. This day would be hers.

***

Rashid looked at the advancing forces grimly. Something didn't seem right. Far too many of Emerald Green's Mobile Suits were just showing up and not really coming from the main lines. That coupled with the fact that Dorothy still had the exact same number of troops as fifteen minutes previous gave him a queasy feeling. No sign of movement from the lines was showing and no power traces along the routes the suits would have had to travel.

As he felled another Serpent Armor he realized what the suits moved like. Too fast to be piloted by humans but too slow on fast decisions. Dorothy had equipped her forces with Mobile Dahls!

"Master Quatre," said Rashid over the secure channel.

"Yes Rashid," replied Quatre as he gritted his teeth through an explosion.

"I think I may have a solution to most of the problems we're having with out-numbering. It appears that Emerald Green is using Mobile Dahls in among their regular troops," Rashid said.

"That Serpent armor isn't big enough to house full Mobile Dahl equipment though, at least not the type they'd have to use in those," added Quatre. "How'd they get these in past the line and the bulk of their forces?"

"I have an idea on that," piped in Noin.

"Good to see you and Sally have joined the fray," said Relena.

"Thanks. When we were clearing out their forces when Dorothy attacked the Spaceport before, does anyone remember how her forces seemed to dissipate rather quickly as they fled?"

"You think they simply shut down the suits?" asked Quatre.

"Not shutting down, burrowing underground! I've seen at least three suits pop up like that and they aren't all clean and shiny from the rain, they are mud covered."

"Damn," spat Quatre. "They'll have to have some kind of communications device for these things, something that's mobile and armored. Rashid, I'm going to link up with you and Noin. We should be in a good enough location to triangulate on its position between all of us. We just need to find the frequency."

"It's on a low band of 875 megahertz," piped in Relena.

"How'd you figure that out so fast?" asked Rashid.

"Easy, while the men were theorizing, the women were doing." Relena's transmission was cut short once again as she dove into cover.

"Damn," Quatre cursed again. "Let's start the triangulation."

The suits moved out and after a short time Rashid's voice broke the din.

"I've got the co-ordinates, Master Quatre. Transmitting now," Rashid said as he maneuvered his suit out of range of incoming fire.

"I'm sending you mine too. It looks to me like it's stationed somewhere near the spaceport," reported Noin.

"Yes, that matches up with what I have," Quatre said excitedly.

"I'll take care of it," came a quiet voice over the intercom.

"Duo?" came Quatre's voice quieter than a whisper.

"What was that, Quatre? Your comm was too quiet," asked Noin.

"I'm all right. Taking care of it now. Rashid back me up."

"Aye, Master Quatre."

Sandrock and the lead Maguanac suit moved through the trees towards their target. The two covered the ground in less that a minute, but when they arrived, they found a smoldering hull of what had used to be a Mobile Command Unit. A flare of green brought their attention to a darkened area in the clearing.

The green blade was attached to a large scythe in the hands of a black Gundam with bat-like wings. It's eyes flared eerily with green light just before it's thrusters activated to take it skyward towards Dorothy's forces.

Deathscythe Hell," whispered Quatre. "So this is the end? Rashid, no matter how this comes out, this will be the final battle. Be prepared."

"Always, Master Quatre," Rashid said grimly.

***

Dorothy cursed as over half of her suits disappeared from her tactical screen. Switching to an exterior visual she watched as the Serpent Mobile Dahls slowed to a walk and then stopped moving altogether. 

"Davis," she spat into her mike.

"General, I believe they found the Mobile Dahl Command. The ruse is over," Davis replied calmly.

"Understood. Send out orders to the real troops on the lines. We're moving in."

"Yes, sir," Davis responded and dis-continued communication.

Dorothy smiled and pulled her beam sabre.

"Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war! Take the Castle Sank!"

General Catalonia's Serpent Armor started forward into the trees from its position on the ridge. She could not know what waited for her in the forest. The crow knew and waited for revenge.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	16. Chapter 15

Mobile Suit _Gundam Wing  
_The Crow: Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Disclaimer:   
Gundam Wing and its characters are trademarked and copyright by Ban Dai. The Crow created by J.O. Barr. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to make money so do not distribute it with that purpose in mind!

Warning:   
This story contains violence, bad language, shonen ai, and references to the supernatural. Do not read if your parents won't let you go to a PG-13 movie!

Dark Avenger  
By Ashe

Chapter Fifteen "Duo the God of Death Once Again"  
After Colony 210, July

"I know the pieces fit cuz I watched them fall away  
Mildewed and smoldering. Fundamental differing.  
Pure intention juxtaposed will set two lovers souls in motion  
Disintegrating as it goes testing our communication  
The light that fueled our fire then has burned a hole between us so  
We cannot see to reach an end crippling our communication.

I know the pieces fit cuz I watched them tumble down  
No fault, none to blame it doesn't mean I don't desire to  
Point the finger, blame the other, watch the temple topple over.  
To bring the pieces back together, rediscover communication"  
- "Schism" - Tool

Relena didn't know when the rain had started during the battle, but it was cutting into visibility and making ground maneuvering virtually impossible. "No wonder Quatre loves the desert," she grumbled as the Tallgeese sank into the ground with each step. Slowly she powered up the Vernier engines and lifted up off the ground and above the tree line. Things seemed to be going well. Emerald Green's forces had been pushed back from the main facilities and most of the fighting was in the forests and not the towns. 

She cursed as several shots hit the engine housing and damaged thrust control. Fire warning lights kicked on and Relena cut power to the number two engine. The drop in thrust brought the Tallgeese down into a bigger mud-hole that the one the queen had flown out of. The Serpent suits that attacked her wasted no time now that the Tallgeese was down. Relena was hard pressed to defend herself in the muck. The Dober cannon would be of little use in close quarters and she let that fall to the mud as she pulled her beam saber.

The two Serpents' overtook her quickly and over-powered their design predecessor, despite the Tallgeese's special enhancement. Using Quatre's training she managed to at least prevent the pair from surrounding her. With a quick glance at her fuel cells, she realized that her Vernier engines would be useless to her now. They were empty. 

"Sally. Noin," Relena murmured into her comlink worriedly. "I could use a little help when you get the chance!"

"Roger that," came Sally's static-filled reply. "We're on our way."

The Serpent armor marked 38 moved to Relena's far right in a quick leap and landed a lucky shot on the first Vernier engine that had taken little damage. The weakened Titanium gave way and the engine fell into two pieces in the mud. Relena knew she'd be a sitting duck with the dead weight of engine number two weighing down her left shoulder and popped it from the Tallgeese.

"Early form of the Zero System, my ass!"

***

Quatre had been engaged in battle with the current Serpent Armor he was facing for nearly four minutes now. The pilot was very good with a beam saber, but Quatre was a master with Sandrock's scimitars. The two had settled into a draw stance in the clearing, each deciding to take a slight break from the combat. Winner was starting to feel tired and was sure he'd make a mistake sooner or later. This battle had gone on far too long. He was glad it would finish the war. Sandrock had a few scrapes to it, but the Emerald Green mobile suit across the clearing looked to him like it needed at least ten hours of overhaul in a full blown maintenance bay. Quatre wondered if he could get the pilot to surrender honorably? He figured at least one person in Dorothy's encampment would have some common sense.

The Winner family heir sat back in the calm and let his mind wander to thoughts of Relena. He knew they'd both agreed not to get involved once the fighting had started, and he'd kind of violated that once, but she'd been able to handle herself. They hadn't made any plans. That had been the other part of the agreement. They'd make all their plans after the war was over and they were both alive and well. Quatre hadn't meant to dwell on it, but he wanted to think of something that would inspire him. He sighed and realized that Trowa was right; he had to live his life for both of them.

He shook his head to try to clear his thoughts and get back on the task at hand. Thoughts of Relena covered in a slinky silk nightie were best left until the Serpent Armor before him was dealt with. Quatre activated his comm and set it to an open frequency he was sure the enemy suit would pick up.

"This is Quatre Rebarba Winner, pilot of Sandrock, representative of the Sank Kingdom. I want to give you this chance to walk away now," started Quatre.

"Save it for someone who cares, pilot zero four. You honestly think I give a good goddam to what you have to tell me?" asked the pilot of the Serpent armor. "My time is up here, but only if you're up to the task Quatre."

Quatre knew that voice. He could hear her insane cackling in his head still from that day over a year ago. She stood in her suit laughing over Heavy Arms twisted form laughing as Trowa died inside. Quatre Winner concentrated and focused all the rage and pain in his heart and fed them to his hands at the controls of his Gundam. Davis, Dorothy's second in command. She'd killed Trowa. He moved Sandrock's scimitars into battle ready position and focused in on Davis' Serpent Armor, the light from the consoles glinting off his goggles.

"For Trowa," he breathed into his mic.

Davis looked up at the sound of his voice to see Sandrock barreling down on her and her mobile suit. She raised her beam saber at the last minute to deflect the twin attack. She was hoping Quatre would finish her off. If only she could make it look convincing.

***

Dorothy had started across the main forest with a small squad of Serpent suits. As they'd approached the river she'd intended to cross her troops had been taken out in a series of skirmishes. The weather was a big factor and the Maguanac Corps had far more experience in harsh conditions than her troops. She'd thought that more suits and crews would hold the tide and win the day, but she'd played her gamble and lost.

Parting the trees before her with her beam saber, she found what she was looking for at last, the river. Originally her plan had been to take her forces in along its banks in a surprise attack. Now her plan involved using it as a means of escape. There was only one flaw to her plan, Deathscythe Hell.

It stood on the opposite bank, the rain glistening on its black Gundanium hide like Charon along the River Styx. Deathscythe's energy scythe glowed an eerie green in the rain and sent chill's up Dorothy's spine. See knew now it was nearly over for her, unless she could take him in combat. If it was Duo in there she knew she wasn't going to win this time.

"Pilot of Gundam Zero Two," she called into her comm. "Withdraw and I'll let you live." Dorothy hoped her uneasiness and fear wasn't coming across in her transmission.

"I think not," Duo answered as he switched on the visual. Dorothy and Duo exchanged knowing looks. "It's come down to us at last, has it?"

"Withdraw or I'll fire!" Dorothy's voice quivered as she raised her Serpent armor's cannons.

"Go ahead," said Duo calmly. "Gundanium has a certain impact threshold that needs to be met to even affect it. With the shells you have, the most you can do is knock me back a few feet, and that's with good aim. With bad aim, well...your bullets will probably just bounce off. You'll have to be very precise to do anything to my suit with that weapon."

Duo turned off the energy scythe and spread Deathscythe's arms wide, inviting the hailstorm of bullets that was sure to come. 

"Who are you?" asked a shocked Dorothy.

"You still aren't sure are you? I'm almost offended! You took such great glee in letting me know how you'd seen to the death of my friends before you'd come after me. You should know by now who I am, General." Duo spat the last word like it gave him a bad taste in his mouth.

_Death._

"Duo," she said simply.

_Victory._

"Heero's lover."

_Life._

Innocence.

"Friend and confidant of Quatre and Trowa."

_Justice._

"Former lover of Wufei Chang. Yes, I know who you are. Or rather who you were."

Dorothy fired off her weapons at the Gundam for a full ten seconds before her shell canisters went dry. Trees and bushes took the brunt of the attack as the bullets bounced harmlessly off the Gundanium armor. The barrels kept rotating for another five second before she realized her guns were empty.

"Oh," smiled Duo. "It seems you have forgotten Gundanium's impact tolerance. Now, I'm afraid, it's my turn."

_Justice._

Deathscythe moved quickly as it raised its weapon into an attack posture. The green blades ignited from their housing and sizzled in the rain. Duo held the weapon in his deadly grasp and kicked on his boosters to fly over the rain-swollen river.

_Life_.

Dorothy dropped her empty Gatling cannons and raised her beam saber once again in the hopes of deflecting Shinigami's attack. The General had under-estimated Duo's ferocity however and her saber was knocked into the soft riverbank. Steam hissed from the Earth's wound.

_Innocence_.

Duo grinned evilly through the clown façade and he lunged Deathscythe forward with a punch to Dorothy's Serpent's midsection. It put the suit's center of balance off kilter and it fell onto its right side. The right hand broke contact with the beam saber and its power went with it. Without the energy flow from the hand connection, the handle fell into the river lifelessly.

_Victory_.

Dorothy kicked out with her leg, knocking Deathscythe's weapon from its grasp. Duo was unaware of its location as the other leg fought to knock his Gundam to the ground. He jumped his suit backwards and realized his mistake as the river swept around his legs and the powerful current began to pull him away.

_Death_.

"Oh no you don't," Shinigami whispered. Working skillfully at his controls Duo managed to grab hold of Dorothy's Serpent Armor. The two metal behemoths were dragged along the shore for nearly one hundred yards before the rain-soaked dirt and sand gave way. The bat and the snake disappeared beneath the river's storm-swollen waves. 

_Death_.

***

Relena sat and pouted in the cockpit of the Tallgeese. Most of the systems had shorted out from the power surges and general abuse it had taken. Sally and Noin had shown up at just the right moment to rescue her, but now the ruler of the Sank Kingdom was feeling quite useless. Relena had proven to herself that she could be at least somewhat effective in a combat situation.

Out of her peripheral vision she could see Noin on the screen looking very anxious. Relena had killed her outgoing comm. She hadn't wanted the others to hear her cry of frustration when the Tallgeese had finally broken down. Relena felt it was unladylike. She let out a small giggle on that thought. Lady Peacecraft had gone way beyond "unladylike" behavior this time.

Reaching over after composing herself she turned the comm back on.

"Yes Noin, I'm fine," she said quite despondently.

"Thank god. We were worried when the left leg went out."

"The Tallgeese is going o need a lot of work," Relena said simply. "I don't think I'm ever going to be piloting it again regardless. I wasn't ready for this by a long shot."

"No one ever is," Noin said smiling.

"What's the word on casualties?" asked Relena, ever the countries' leader. Noin knew what the real question Relena wanted to ask, but she was careful to avoid the subject. They hadn't really heard anything about Quatre yet anyway. He hadn't checked in, but that didn't mean anything.

"So far the list is up to eleven of our forces," Noin said quietly. "No civilian casualties."

Relena nodded. If Quatre had been on the list Noin would have told her.

"Did we win?" asked Relena.

"Not sure," answered Noin. "We're alive at least. Emerald Green is in retreat and we haven't found any enemy suits within the borders as of yet. The Maguanac Corps is doing a major sweep."

"Understood," Relena mumbles quietly. All she could think of was Quatre out there, and maybe Duo was still here as well, waiting.

***

Quatre maneuvered Sandrock slowly through the trees, camouflaging himself as much as possible in the rain and the foliage. After his initial assault, Davis had retreated back into the forest. She was over-matched out in the open, and although she sought death, she felt she had to do her best in battle. Her honor demanded it. Quatre found himself enjoying the little game of cat and mouse with Davis. It was no better than the pain and suffering she had brought on others. Somewhere in his heart he knew it was what the others wanted. Davis had started off taunting him, teasing his abilities. 

After a few well-placed blows from Sandrock's scimitars she'd gone silent. Quatre had surprised her more than once and now Davis was down to her small Vulcan cannons, one semi-functional arm and a beam saber. The rain masked Sandrock's movements, but it was starting to let up. All this advanced technology and the weather could still affect the outcome of a battle. Quatre dropped Sandrock to one knee in a cluster of trees and waited.

He was tired and exhausted. Davis would be his, but he needed a few minutes to regain what he'd lost. He needed a hot shower and Relena in his arms. He felt broken inside, spiritually and mentally. When it was over he honestly believed he'd never step inside a Gundam again. Quatre felt lost and alone and hated himself for it. He didn't notice Davis slip into the trees across from him in her Serpent armor. 

She quickly shut nearly everything down but her communications panel. Her beam saber was clenched in the suit's functioning hand, waiting for the signal to activate. Davis found she just couldn't bum rush him. She remembered Christo's blood on the floor, Alex and Mueller hanging like sickening puppets branded with the Preventers symbol, and lastly Dutch's gurgling as he died.

"Monsters," she said aloud. "We were all monsters."

"Now you understand how we see you," came Quatre's voice over her comm.

She started at the sound. She hadn't realized her mic was active. Maybe she could make Quatre understand. Davis knew she was a monster, but she wanted to die honorably now. She didn't want to end up like the others. The painful memories were becoming too much for her, like angry ghosts in a haunted home.

"Yes," she finally found her voice. "I do see Quatre. There aren't any words I can say to you to appease what has been done to you and your people. I'm not sure if you'd even listen to me if I had an apology for the rest of Emerald Green. I'm sure they wouldn't care though. 

"I've seen too much Quatre, caused too many people pain and grief. It's going to end here and now. I want it to be you who carries out my execution. It seems only fitting that it be you. I stole your lover from you in violence and so I should leave this world in the same way. After that you can live your life."

"What are you planning?" Quatre asked.

"Look into the trees across from you." Davis activated her beam saber and brought her suit back up to regular power levels.

"Please, Davis, reconsider this," said Quatre. "You don't have to die like this."

"No, I do Quatre. I do."

Davis launched herself forward towards Sandrock, the gears in her mobile suit grinding in protest. The beam saber lit up the wet forest eerily as the suit moved on, it's one arm hanging at its side. It was her last stand in life. Quatre waited until the last second, but his instincts took over and before he knew what he'd done his scimitars were lying at his side and Davis mobile suit lay in two pieces on the ground. He lowered his head and started walking away. Shortly after Sandrock left the area Davis mobile suit exploded.

Before her death Davis was sure that no one would remember her. Quatre never forgot.

***

Shinigami let the current drag the two giants along the river. The current was so strong that in under a minute the two mobile suits were deposited over the waterfall by the grave marker. Duo made sure to release Dorothy's Serpent armor before they went over, giving him a little boost so her suit wouldn't land on Deathscythe. In the middle of combat it tended to be bad when your Gundam was trapped under and enemy mobile suit at an unknown depth of water.

After he reached a safe distance, Duo turned Deathscythe around in the water. He quickly shut down all non-essential systems. Dorothy was going to get one helluva surprise when she tried to get out of the river.

***

General Catalonia was hanging in her cockpits' straps holding her head. She brushed a tender spot where her forehead had hit the screen in front of her and cracked it. It was going to be one large bruise and more than likely a concussion. Dorothy cursed and shook her head, immediately regretting she had. There was definitely some damage in there from the trip over the falls. Duo was still out there and she couldn't concentrate. But he'd been dead. She'd seen to that. She had reveled in his death. Duo had gone to a place there was no coming back from. And yet here he was. 

She'd made sure that Duo had known that the others were dead and gone before she's crushed Deathscythe's cockpit. Yes, Duo had to have died. She was sure of it. The big question now was how do you kill someone who was already dead.

Dorothy felt her suit touch the bottom of the river and heard the scratching of the metal as it dragged through the mud and rock. She reached out for her cockpit controls and activated her systems again. Everything but the left arm appeared to be functioning. Her suit began to right itself sluggishly against the current. The General wasn't sure if it was her head or the suit that made it seem so slow.

She slapped the dark weapons console to her left and it sputtered and sparked to life. Dorothy put her hand to her throbbing head and again wished she hadn't moved. This time she wasn't sure if it was her head or the suit's condition. She realized somewhere along the river she'd lost her beam saber. She vaguely remembered losing it, but her head's throbbing was clouding her memories.

Catching sight of the riverbank in her right monitor, Dorothy steered the semi-functional mobile suit towards the shore. She needed to get back to the command base and get some medical attention. As she plotted her way back to the base, Dorothy failed to notice Deathscythe blocking the path. It wasn't until the scythe Duo had recovered in the river flared to life and its eyes glowed with their unholy light that she looked up into the face of her executioner and screamed.

***

Duo swung wide with Deathscythe's energy weapon but didn't come up short. Dorothy had tried to block the attack on instinct, but the damaged arms were hardly a match for the reactor-powered weapon. Shinigami let loose in a furious attack as Dorothy tried to dodge wearily. It was futile. Duo was never even winded. Dorothy was the obstacle to the one thing he wanted more than ever right now, Heero Yuy.

Victory.

"I hear you," Duo cried. "It'll all be over soon."

Deathscythe and Duo attacked like they never had before, Shinigami's fury unleashed for the world to see. Once Dorothy might have looked upon such an attack as a thing of beauty, but now there was only terror in her heart. The crow sat watching idly by on the grave marker as the battle progressed in a hail of sparks and shrieking metal.

Duo's sense of time skewed, and whether five minutes had passed or five hours, he did not know. He did not stop until Dorothy's Serpent armor split in two, spilling its operator onto the muddy earth and lessening rain. The upper torso fell back into the river and exploded, the legs toppling over in a mock display of Dorothy's body.

_Victory._

Death.

Duo opened Deathscythe's cockpit and leapt for the rigging cord to take him to the ground. Not waiting for it to stop, Duo jumped at a height of fifteen feet and glided with his wings spread wide to Dorothy's body. He landed softly and turned her body over. The General was not going to die now, however. She clawed at his eyes and Duo leapt back from shock, holding them as they healed.

Dorothy went to kick Duo. Her knee connected with his mid-section and the pilot went down. She was about to land another blow when the crow gave up its perch and flew towards her face, pecking and clawing. She managed a hold on it and twisted its neck until she heard a crack. The crow fell lifeless to the ground. Dorothy spat on it and looked up only to see a fist flying at her face.

"That is for Trowa!" shouted Duo.

Another punch landed on her face.

"That is for Wufei!"

She staggered again as the fist connected with her delicate nose breaking it.

"This is for Heero!"

Duo returned the knee to the mid-section for that one.

"And this," Duo paused. "This is for me!"

Duo's kick sent Dorothy sprawling across the mud slick ground until she rested at Deathscythe's foot. Duo's crooked smile was the only thing Dorothy could focus on. He got down on his haunches next to her. She coughed and a smattering of blood appeared at the corners of her mouth.

"I have a present for you. Heero and the others gave it to me before I left from the other side." His hands reached on either side of her head and held on tight. "It's nothing much, just the pain that will put you over the edge to your little trip to hell."

_Death._

Dorothy's scream echoed out into the river and into the hangar. Its sound slid through the Sank Kingdom to let all of Dorothy's victims know that it was indeed over.

***

Duo sat on his upheaved grave. The rain had let up, but Duo felt cold. It was the cold of death. Dorothy had killed his carrier and his work was done. It was his time. The cold had infused upon him and Duo did not like it. He had pulled his wings about him like a thick blanket. He shivered in the cold, his breath coming out in a fog. Duo thought it amusing that a dead man would breath. Duo looked up at his Gundam, standing over his grave like the night watchman. Duo had moved him after Dorothy had moved on and had sealed his Gundam shut. 

Shinigami rocked back and forth. He didn't know what to do now. The voices had left him and there was no rain. It was only the sound of his own thoughts now. For once since his return his world was quiet. Duo wasn't sure what was worse, the voices spurring him on and reassuring him, or this deathly silence.

Duo shivered again and wondered when the end would come. His strength had left him with the crow's passing and he so wanted to curl up in the grave, but Heero had not come for him. Heero had promised him that he would come for him when it was over. Vengeance and justice had been served. He had dealt death to those responsible and had done everything possible to preserve the lives of those that were innocent. He'd carried out his victory. So where was Heero?

"Where are you, Heero?" Duo cried. He could feel the tears coming and he tried to hold them back. It was no use and the tears flowed like the rains that had come before.

Duo was so lost in himself that he didn't hear the rustle of the feathers behind him, and he almost didn't feel the hand on his back. He turned slowly around and with tear-filled eyes looked upon the man he'd loved for what seemed a lifetime, Heero Yuy. Heero glowed with an angelic light that hurt Duo's eyes at first until he reached out to touch him.

Heero's touch felt like nothing Duo had ever felt before as his inner torment melted away. Heero smiled warmly at him, folding and unfolding the white feathery wings on his back. Duo cracked his trademarked crooked grin.

"Did someone get his wings?" he asked sarcastically as he leapt up into the Japanese man's arms. He leaned into Heero and accepted his embrace.

"Baka," said Heero quietly. "It's time to go home now, Maxwell. You're done here."

"I've been waiting for month's to hear you say that." Duo kissed Heero on the lips, longing for something far more close and personal. 

From the distant tower of the Sank Kingdom's ruling body, Quatre and Relena shared a similar embrace as too bright stars took their place in the night sky. When asked about the strange man and his crow in the Sank Kingdom's victory, some would call it an urban legend or a simple fairy tale. Quatre and Relena would never answer the question, but would simply smile and hold each other close.

"People Die,  
Gundams Burn,  
But True Love Lasts Forever."  
-Relena Peacecraft Winner  
at the ceremony marking the 2-year anniversary   
of the end of the Sank Kingdom War


End file.
